Forgotten Love: Memories
by Mizu no Hana
Summary: Roll's heart could not hold her feelings towards Rockman any longer and she broke down, without her knowing that Rockman did love her back. Netto's father was able to fix Roll, but she can't remember anything for now. Full summary inside. Re-posting chapters with better grammar. :. Rockman x Roll .:
1. Prologue

Roll and Rockman were secretly in love with each other for a very long time, but none of them had enough courage to speak what they felt, in fear of the other's rejection. After a while, Roll's heart was not capable of holding the female's strong feelings towards the other Navi any longer and so, she had a breakdown. All this happened and Roll never had the chance to unfold her feelings towards Rockman. But what she also didn't know was that the blue Navi loved her in return all along. Yuuichiro Hikari was able to fix Roll, but there was a catch. She was not able to remember anything for now. With time and a lot of patience and care, will Roll be able to remember her feelings towards her beloved? But not everything is sweet and lovely, since there is an entity that seeks revenge on Rockman more than anything in the world...

:. Rockman x Roll .:

**Forgotten Love: Memories**

**By Mizu no Hana**

**Main pairing:** Rockman & Roll.

**Footage:** Season Stream.

**AN:** I began this fanfic with the inspiration of "Chobits" by Clamp. The main fact here is that Roll loses her memory, but she will be able to remember everything, not in Chobits, where Chii doesn't. Let's see how Rockman is going to react to the knowledge of his sweetheart's recovery.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own or any related characters from the Anime/Game. Blitz, Sol, Terraman and Kald were characters created by me only for the sole purpose of this fanfiction's entertainment.

**Prologue**

".. So, Medi-san?" Rockman asked, though somehow he already knew the answer, ".. How's Roll..?"

The female medic Navi sighed deeply before responding.

".. There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it and done." Medi breathed, "Roll's sick, Rockman.. And you know what happens when Navis are _this_ sick, don't you..?" she asked, feeling bad for she couldn't do anything more to help her pink friend.

Rockman shrugged. He knew Roll was bad, he knew she was sick, but he didn't expect her to be _this_ bad. His eyes meet the ground. The blue bomber wanted to help Roll, but he didn't know what to do. Everything was going just fine between them, the two Navis were best friends, but when Rockman decided to confess his feelings for his pink friend.. His world got shacked and crashed down, breaking into millions of little Data pieces. Rockman didn't wanted to lose Roll.. It took him so long to find that the girl loved him back.. It took him eight long years to find that Roll had the same feelings as him. Rockman couldn't shake out of his head the fact that his sweetheart, his dear Roll, the net Navi he ever cared for like this, was sick because of _him_. The female Navi's sickness was triggered by her heart, in short, Roll's stored feelings for Rockman weren't able to stay stored any longer in her heart. The feelings were too great, and her heart was too small to contain them. Rockman still remembered when it all started, when Roll's.. illness begun.

_**- Flashback -**_

_Four days ago..._

_"Hey there, Roll-Chan!" Rockman greeted, waving._

_"Hi, Rockman.." Roll waved back._

_The blue Navi noticed that there was something different about Roll. Something that was wrong. Her green eyes had a different expression. It was a.. was it an expression of sadness? Yes.. it was.. Roll had such sad eyes, that it tore Rockman's heart, almost breaking it in two. He shrugged when he noticed that she also had an almost empty eye color, and her cheeks were extremely red. Was she sick? No.. Not his Roll-Chan, she's always so happy and cheerful.. Why would she be sick like this?_

_"Ah? Roll-Chan? Are you ok? Are you sick?" he asked, worried about her._

_But Roll didn't replied. Her sad eyes were simply looking forward, idly, and she looked as if she wasn't even there with him. Rockman took one step forward, getting closer to the female Navi. As he was about to talk again, Roll spoke._

_".. R.. Rockman.." called Roll. Tough, her voice was also different.. it seemed that she was.. weak._

_The blue Navi's worried expression deepened as the girl suddenly lost her balance and almost fell to the ground, but Rockman dashed over to her, and he held Roll in a firm embrace, so that she wouldn't fall._

_"R-Roll-Chan!?" Rockman asked. He felt his blood pressure getting faster for he was getting nervous._

_".. R.. R-Rock.. m-man.." Roll was weak and Rockman felt her slowly fading away..._

_**- End flashback -**_

".. R-Rockman..?" a voice broke through Rockman's thoughts, it was Roll's weak voice.

The blue bomber snapped back to the reality and he held the girl's left hand with his both hands and sat in a chair, close to her. Roll was lying on a stretcher in one of Sci Lab's maintenance rooms. She had been there for a while now.

Rockman's father, Mr. Hikari, was doing everything he could to fix Roll, but it wasn't that easy, for her heart keep on getting worse every day. The only solution was to make a massive restart on all of Roll's systems, but it would mean that all of Roll's memories and feelings would abandon her mind and body. Rockman couldn't take Roll's memories, neither all those feelings, away from her. He couldn't. He didn't wanted to.. but then again.. he knew that the girl was suffering badly from her illness. Silently and discretely, but yes, Roll was in deep pain. The only way to relieve the female Navi from all her pain was the worst thing she -and him- could ever think of doing.

"H-Hey there, Roll-Chan." Rockman said. It was easy to notice that he was almost crying, "How are you feeling today?" he asked.

".. H.. Heavy.." Roll breathed, ".. When can I go home, Rockman..?"

"Not so fast, Roll." Medi said, as she went over to the couple, "You still need to stay here some more time for observation."

".. For how long..?" Roll asked.

"I'm not sure. A few more days, probably." replied Medi, "But take it easy, and hang in there, okay, Roll?" she smiled to her pink friend.

Roll gave her medic friend a weak smile back and nodded, as she turned back to Rockman and Medi slid away to talk with Mr. Hikari to report Roll's situation.

".. Rockman.." Roll gazed at him with her weak expression, ".. I want to go home.. I don't want to stay here.. I-" Roll would have said more, but she was already getting tired and her words were broken by Rockman, who stood up and tried to calm her down.

"Roll-Chan, Roll-Chan, hey, hey, calm down." Rockman brought his hand up to her cheek and stroke it gently, and he smiled softly for her. It was all he could do. "Take it easy, okay? You'll be fine."

The pink Navi's eyes got watery and her tears ran down her face, some of them wetting his hand, though Rockman didn't even bothered about it. He was too worried about her. He sat again over his chair and Roll, weakly, grabbed his hand, the one that was holding her cheek, and a sad expression filled her eyes as she keep looking at him.

".. Rockman.. I'm scared.." she said, though, almost whispering. ".. My heart hurts so much.. I can't move.. I'm afraid I'll-" she was interrupted.

"Hey, hey, don't talk like that, Roll-Chan..!" Rockman tried to calm her down, but even he didn't knew what to do.

Roll couldn't speak well. She knew what was going to happen to her, but she didn't want to acknowledge it right now. Neither Rockman wanted. But she knew..

".. Your father has been doing his best to fix me, but.. it's no use.. I'm not getting any better.." said Roll. She was slowly realizing her fate.

"Please don't talk that way, Roll-Chan.." Rockman said, as he almost broke in tears. He couldn't stand the fact that Roll would forget about him. About everything they went through. He couldn't. He didn't want to.

_"I'll be alright... It's gonna be okay, so, please don't worry, Rockman..." _she smiled softly to him.


	2. Chapter 1: Fallen Memories

**Chapter 1 - Fallen Memories**

"_I'll be alright..."_

Those words kept echoing inside Rockman's head during the following days. He couldn't take it. Couldn't accept it. He still wouldn't stand the fact that his sweetheart was gone. He didn't want to acknowledge the fact that the Roll he knew was gone forever. Rockman kept recalling _that_ day. The day where Roll's memories vanished from her mind, now reduced to a mere memory chip. Meiru insisted at the time in keeping all of Roll's previous memories, for she couldn't delete her best friend's thoughts... The day where... _his_ Roll died…

_**- Flashback -**_

"_... I guess this is it..." a meek voice spoke._

_Rockman couldn't even speak, his low sobs didn't allow him to do so._

"_... This is… goodbye, Rockman..."_

_Between a few sobs, the blue Navi was able to pronounce a few words, even if as cracked up as he was._

"_... P-Please don't leave me, Roll-chan... Please don't go..." he pleaded towards her._

"_... It's okay, Rockman..." the pink Navi was able to smile again for a moment, "... We will… definitely meet again soon..."_

"… _I-It won't be the same as before..." he sobbed again, "I-I don't want to lose you... I want _you _here…" he tried pulling his shoulders upwards to try to calm himself, but it failed._

_It would only take a few more short minutes until she was gone from that world. When it happened, Rockman fell to his knees and bawled out while calling out her name over and over. He did not care about who could see him like that, so weak. He had just lost the most important Navi to him. As more as he pleaded for his father to do something, to wake her up, Yuuichiro couldn't do anything._

_**- End flashback -**_

"_Rockman…"_ A voice came from the outside of the PET. It was Hikari Netto, his younger brother. _"Come on, Rockman. You do know that you will have to get out of there someday, do you?"_

But no reply came back. Rockman could hear his brother perfectly well but he didn't say anything back to him. Actually, he hadn't spoken anything during the past days. He just sat in the darker corner of his HomePage. Rockman locked himself in it and cut down the video speeches and e-mail receiving, so that nobody would see him inside. But Netto knew he was there. It _is_ his brother we're talking about. Ever since Roll's green eyes closed themselves to Rockman and to the world, all he managed to do was call out her name, over and over again, before entering in a state of shock. He had even stopped sleeping after a while. When he did, his dreams were constantly hunted with his memory of Roll. Moments he had spent with her... Thoughts he had of her... Gazes they had exchanged, and… that kiss they exchanged between one another. It was such a sweet, yet, funny moment to him. It was nothing more than an accident, but even so, Rockman will never forget that time with his sweetheart…

_**- Flashback -**_

"_Eh, Roll-chan?"_

"_Hm? Yes, Rockman?" Roll asked with her sweet usual smile._

"_Ca-Calm down, but..." Rockman replied, trying to maintain Roll steady and calm, "... You have a…"_

"_What? What?" Roll was already beginning to panic with Rockman's expression._

"_You have a b-bug-" he didn't have the time to say more._

"_BUG!" Roll got up from the bench and began to jerk her arms around her and above her head, to shake the bug away. But she didn't even know where it was, for she didn't let Rockman say so. "Get it off! Get if off! Get it off!" she could only bark at him._

"_W-Wait, Roll-chan.." Rockman had got up as well and tried to calm her down._

_During the time that Roll was shaking her arms like nuts and Rockman kept trying to help her, the little bug had already flew away from them and it was far away from them when…_

"_A-Ah?"_

_Roll somehow tripped over the bench's foot and fell over Rockman, making the two of them crash to the ground. As the pink Navi fell on top of the blue bomber, she accidentally fell with her face very close to his, and a reflex from him was all that was left to do. Lifting his face up, Rockman connected their faces and their lips together in a rushed, but soft, kiss..._

_**- End flashback -**_

"_Come on, Rockman! Get out of there, already!"_ Netto called out again. _"I know you're in there. Come on out!"_

"... Go away..." was the reply he got.

"_Ah, finally an answer~! Now I can give you the good news~!"_

". . ." no reply came this time.

"_I just got out of the phone with Papa."_ Netto said, cheerful. _"He said the repairs of Roll are all done~!"_

Exactly what he needed to hear.

Rockman perked up by the time Netto said _"Roll"._ He got up right away and un-cut the video speeches. His stare fell over Netto in the same minute and he bomber his younger brother with several questions.

"When did he finish? How is she? When is he waking her up? What are we still doing here? Let's go, Netto-kun!" Rockman lashed at his NetOp.

"Calm down, Rockman. Papa told me to tell you a few things before we go there." Netto said.

"Huh? What is it?" the blue bomber asked right away, as he calmed himself down.

"Papa told me to tell you that Roll is a little different now." Netto replied.

"Different? How come?" Rockman asked again.

"Papa said that Roll right now is as if she's starting a new life. That she has no memory of her previous life for now, as in, she remembers neither you, nor nobody from the group, only Meiru-chan because she's her NetOp. Also that Roll will be able to remember everything, but not in a rushed way. It's like she has amnesia or something like that. It has to be with baby steps, like Papa said." the bandana boy explained to his older brother.

Rockman looked somewhat sad to this news. She actually did forget everything about the two of them.

"... I see... When will Meiru-chan pick Roll-chan from Sci Lab?" Rockman asked.

"Today, after school." Netto replied. "And the rest of the group is going too to greet Roll when she wakes up, so that her very first memories is the whole group~!" Netto replied.

". . ." Rockman chose to remain quiet at that.

**-RxR-**

After school, everyone was at Sci Lab to wait for Roll to wake up. Rockman was there as well. Even though he knew that he was not to show any emotion of affection towards the female Navi, he wanted to see her, more than anything else in the world. The past days that went by without Roll looked more like long years for Rockman, since he remained always locked up inside his HP. He had even neglected his duties because of his depression. But now he was finally going to see his dearest one once more. Mr. Hikari addressed to Rockman one last time before he started Roll's programs again. He opened a net-window that appeared in front of the blue bomber.

"Rockman…" he said.

"Hai, Papa."

"You know you can't-" Mr. Hikari was interrupted before he could finish.

"Show any emotions. Hai, I know, Papa..." Rockman's words made him look down for a few moments.

"Alright then..." Mr. Hikari closed the window and pushed a few buttons on his keyboard. "Program Roll EXE, initiate!" he pushed the final enter button.

In the Sci Lab's network, a few sounds could be heard, meaning there were running programs moving around, a.k.a., Roll's programs. In the waiting room, all the group Navis were waiting for Roll to wake up, and yet, Rockman stood behind all of them.

"_It's gonna be okay..."_

Those little words echoed in Rockman's mind as he heard the door in front of the group open and a pink slim female shape walking towards the center of the waiting area, rubbing her right eye. Apparently, she seemed to be a little sleepy. Everyone, both NetOps and net Navis, looked at Roll enter, and the female Navi noticed she was being stared at as she yawned.

"Ara? Why are there so many people staring at me...?" Roll asked, still rubbing her eye. "Do I have something on my face, Meiru-chan?"

The pink Navi looked up at the net-window where the NetOps were and she noticed that Meiru was crying, and Netto was trying to comfort her, which left the Navi puzzled. Rubbing her eye a bit more, she spoke again.

"... Meiru-chan? Are you okay? Are you sad?" asked Roll. She seemed to be... oblivious to everything that was going on.

The red-haired girl was able to put herself together and speak up.

"Y-Yes, Roll, I'm okay. I'm not sad, these are tears of happiness." She explained, dragging her tears away. "The whole group came to see you~!" she added with a happier tone of voice.

"Ara...? Group?" Roll asked, tilting her head to the side, spotting the rest of the group.

"Yes, Miss Roll. We are all your friends who came to visit you." said a tall yellow Navi, coming next to her. "My name is Glyde." he introduced himself with a formal bow.

"Ooh, I see. Hello, Glide-sama~!" Roll spoke cheerfully, just like she was before.

Another tall Navi ran towards Roll. This one was red and yellow and he was big.

"De gutsu~! This is Gutsman, de gutsu~!" he introduced himself, with his big smile.

"Hi there, Guts-shan~!" Roll greeted with a giggle, finding that Navi rather funny.

Then, another Navi arrived. He was blue and much shorter than the other Navis. He was shorter than Roll himself.

"Hey! My name's Iceman. Do you remember me, Roll-san?" he asked.

Roll sat in her knees and looked at Iceman for a few moments. She then smiled and replied.

"... Yes~! You're Iceman~! I remember you~!" she claimed with her smile. "I remember everyone~! From Glide-sama to Iceman-shan~! You look like a puppet, Ice-shan~!" she commented with a brighter smile.

Iceman slightly blushed as Roll gave him a quick tight hug. She then got up and looked around her surrounding for a moment, spotting someone else in the room. He was also taller than Roll and he had long white hair. His eyes were covered with a dark visor, and she couldn't see his eyes, which puzzled her a little. The female Navi walked over to the crimson red Navi.

"Hello there, Sir." she greeted. "Who are you?" she asked.

The crimson Navi turned to Roll and replied politely.

"Blues, Miss Roll." he said, always serious, yet, polite.

The crimson Navi's voice dashed over her head, and a flash of memory appeared, it was indeed Blues.

"Oh, I remember you now, Blues-sama~! But... why are you always so serious with everyone?" Roll asked, puzzled.

"That's just the way I was programmed to be, Miss..." Blues replied with a solemn tone of voice.

"Oh, okay, okay." The pink Navi didn't ask anything else, for she spotted another Navi. He had around the same size as her, and his outfit was dark-blue with a light-blue stripe on both of his sides. His hair was spiked up to his sides and his green eyes crossed ways with hers. It was Rockman.

At first, Roll didn't react, she just looked at him, and he looked back at her. Everyone, both Navis and NetOps, were waiting to see how Rockman and Roll would react at the sight of each other. Although he knew he couldn't hold Roll has close and tightly as he wanted to, Rockman's urge to hug her was still quite colossal, but he held himself. Then, always oblivious, Roll spoke.

"Hello there. I think I don't remember you, Sir. Are you new in the group?" she asked, leaving everyone with a shocked expression.

How it hurt! To hear your beloved one saying she cannot remember you! Rockman shrugged and looked to the side, not replying. He felt an urge to run away, though he held himself again and stood where he was. Upon not receiving an answer, Roll took a few more steps closer to him and held her hand upwards.

"My name is Roll. Nice to meet you, Sir~!" she greeted oblivious, but always with her smile.

Rockman couldn't react to this new Roll. He wanted to, but he just couldn't. he he was about to panic, Glide arrived and helped him _-them-_ out.

"Miss Roll, this is Rockman. You two knew each other before you lost your memory and were very good friends. I believe it is normal for you to not recall about him now, but it'll come with time." Glide explained as he smiled to the pink girl and to Rockman.

"Oh, I understand~! Hi there, Rockman-san~!" the pink Navi still had her hand up and her smile as well.

"Eh... Y-You don't need to call me _"Rockman-san",_ Roll-chan..." the "chan" part wasn't supposed to come out, but it slipped out of his lips.

Rockman gave himself a mental slap and held Roll's hand back, not tightly, but firmly, and for like two seconds, a few thin electric flashes danced around Roll's body and her eyes changed. They got empty and a few flashes of light ran by them, as if she was making downloads. Another flash of memory appeared, but this time, the memory was foggy and dark. Roll could see that it was someone who was close to her, but she couldn't place who it was. The memory seemed to be another Navi waving at her from afar, but who could it be? Rockman didn't even have time to get worried, because it was all so fast. Luckily, Glide recorded the electric flash in his own memory files. Roll then quickly blinked a few times and tilted her head to the side and smiled again to Rockman as she shook his hand.

"Okay… Rokku-chan it is, then~!" she giggled at the Navi's new nickname.

The blue Navi simply gazed at her without say anything else, same for everyone else.

"_Rokku-chan." _Just like that. No emotion at all.

**End of chapter 1**

**AN: This chapter has been revised and edited properly.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Mind's Sweet Oblivion

**Chapter 2 - The Mind's Sweet Oblivion**

"Whoah~! Butterflies~!" Roll ran after the small group and tried to catch one, but they keep on running away. "Oh, hey~! Get back here~!" she called out, always with her smile.

"They're programmed to run away from you, Miss Roll." explained Glide.

"You have to stay quiet and wait for them to come to you." explained Iceman.

"Ooh, okay~!" Roll sat down for a few moments and waited.

The group was heading to the theme park to have some fun, for these last days were full with worries, most of them because of Roll's programming. The NetOps were also heading to the theme park, for they wanted to have some fun as well. In her normal conditions, Roll would be grabbing Rockman's arm and she would be smiling to him, with the rest of the group sending little comments and giggles.. But now.. Rockman actually missed the girl's grip on his arm, that circulation-cutter embrace of hers.. And Roll was sitting and waiting for a butterfly to come to her.. but none was coming, which left the girl a little sad.

"Oww.. The butterflies don't like me.." the female Navi said as she stood up. "But it's okay, no problem~!" she keep up with the group, that was just a few steps ahead.

And not noticing, Roll was right next to Rockman. Normally, the blue Navi would be in front of the group, but with Roll like this, he only wanted to stay hidden, for he cannot show any emotion of affection towards the girl, because, as his father told him, it could make the pink Navi have a brutal break down. (**AN:** Similar to a human's heart attack, but only worse and fatal.) The female Navi noticed by looking at Rockman's face, that he seemed to be struggling, which left her puzzled.

"Rokku-chan?" she called for him. "Are you okay? You look a little weird."

The blue bomber shrugged by the inside and tried to find a way to reply to her, yet, it seemed to be a difficult task.

"E-Euh.. I'm f-fine, Roll-Chan.." he finally replied to the girl. ".. D-Don't worry about m-me.. O-Okay?"

Roll just smiled as she heard him speak.

"Okay~! If you say so, I'll believe in you, Rokku-chan~!" she said.

* * *

"Hum.. Papa.. I have a few doubts." Netto addressed to his father through his PET.

"Yes? What's wrong, Netto?" Mr. Hikari asked.

"If Rockman can't show no emotions at all, and I mean absolutely nothing, towards Roll, how is she gonna remember him? Can't he at least.. hug her or kiss her or somethin' like that?" Netto asked, puzzled about the pink Navi's programs.

As Mr. Hikari explained Roll's programming to Netto, Meiru was close to them to learn some more things about her pink Navi friend.

"Well, Roll's programs were restarted in a very few time.. If Rockman begins to show his feelings for Roll already, it can overload her heart and she can break down." There are some ways to explain it, but Mr. Hikari tried to say it in an easy way so that his son could understand.

"Ooh, I get it.. I think.." Netto said.

"But Rockman will eventually be able to show his feelings for Roll, won't he be, Mr. Hikari?" Meiru asked, popping in between the conversation.

"Yes, of course, but not so fast, Meiru. Face it like this: Roll is just like a young child now, that's why she's so oblivious to everything around her and that's also why she only notices a few standard things that her brain have." explained Mr. Hikari.

"Like, per example, butterflies?" Meiru asked again.

"Exactly, Meiru. Just like a human young child, Roll can only see and notice what her brain wants her to. With time, her programming will allow her to "grow up", in a figure of speech, and then Rockman will be able to express his emotions to her." explained Mr. Hikari.

"But how long does it takes..?" Netto asked, still a little puzzled.

"Well, a human female child takes, at least, 13 years to be mature, but as net Navis "grow up" faster than humans, I'd say either Roll has a radical change in her programming, or either Rockman has to wait around four or five years for Roll." explained Mr. Hikari.

"Wow, that sure is a long time." commented Netto.

"Hum.. Mr. Hikari.. What did you meant with "a radical change in her programming"?" Meiru asked, curious about that part.

"And why five years?" Netto asked as well.

"Four or five years are the time that Roll would need to fully remember about everything, then "growing up"." Mr. Hikari replied. "And a "radical change" would be Roll remembering about everything in a short period of time." he explained.

"Ooh, okay, I get it now." Netto said.

"But.. if Roll does has that radical change.. What would happen to her?" Meiru asked, getting a little worried.

"Well.." Mr. Hikari stopped for a second to put his sentences together so that he could reply in a clear and simple way to the girl. "If it does happens to Roll, and I'm not saying it wouldn't happen, because it _is_ possible to happen, Roll would either be okay, and just as she was before, with no problems at all, or she could break down for having too much Data running through her systems all at once." he explained, then adding something else. "But then, if Roll does break down again.. It will be much more difficult to fix her systems.."

"And why is that, Mr. Hikari..?" Meiru asked, still worried.

"Yeah, Papa, why?" Netto asked as well.

"Because before Roll had only one set of memories, and it was easier to fix her back then, but now Roll is beginning to grow a new set of memories. The old one is still there in her system, waiting for her to remember, and to fix a Navi that.. complex isn't that easy." Mr. Hikari explained.

"But it's just the memories, isn't it? You can take them out and then replace them in the same place, can't you?" Tohru asked, who had listened to the conversation for a while now.

"As I said before, it is not that easy to fix a net Navi. The memory system is one of the most important systems that your Navis can have. It's like our bodies' circulation system. If you mess up with it, the brain and heart will stop working. It is the same with Navi's memory system." explained Mr. Hikari.

"Oh, I see.." Tohru stood quiet now.

"Papa, is a Navi's memory system _that_ fragile?" Netto asked.

"Yes, it is, Netto." Mr. Hikari replied. "The Navi's body is covered with Data running systems, making the Navis themselves the programs they are. And when you are fixing a Navi, you must be careful to touch the less as possible in the memory system."

"Why, Papa?" Netto asked again.

"When you remove any memory file from your computer, a failed homework, or a mere image or music file, it leaves a print." Mr. Hikari explained.

"And with memories is the same thing?" Meiru asked.

"A little bit. When a memory file is deleted, or it's simply moved to somewhere else, it leaves an even lighter print, which is more difficult to find when you are fixing the Navi, than a regular file." explained Mr. Hikari. "And even the memories' prints are important to a Navi." he added.

"What if the memory's print is deleted, what happens then?" Meiru asked.

"Then, the memory itself isn't able to come back to its original place." Mr. Hikari.

"Oh my god..!" Meiru snapped. She had removed Roll's memories into a chip. "Then I screwed up all of Roll's memories and--" the girl was interrupted.

"Meiru, Meiru, calm down." Mr. Hikari said. "I was able to fix Roll's systems without deleting any memory print from her. Don't worry."

The red-haired girl made a relief sigh.

"Oh, I was worried for a second.." she said.

"But, Papa, where do the new memories go and stay?" Netto asked, looking puzzled again.

"Right in front of the old ones, Netto. The new memories work as a continuation of the old files, but the old memories are never deleted. Forgotten, yes, maybe, but never deleted." Mr. Hikari replied.

"Oh, okay, okay, I get it.." Netto said. "But, Papa.. I don't think Rockman will be able to wait that long for Roll.. I mean.." the bandana boy's words fell short, for he himself didn't knew what to say.

"If he really loves Roll.. He _will_ be able to wait as long as he has to." Mr. Hikari explained.

* * *

"Yay~! We're there~!" Roll said, cheerful, as the Navis reached the theme park. "Let's go~! Let's go~!" she called out to them.

The pink Navi dashed over to the front doors, followed by Gutsman and Iceman.

"This is gonna be so much fun~!" the girl claimed.

"I must agree with you on that, Roll-san!" Iceman said.

"Gutsman agrees too, de gutsu~!" the big Navi said.

While Roll seemed to be as cheerful as a little kid, Rockman was behind everyone and he looked extremely gloomy, which didn't went unnoticed to Glide.

"Rockman? Are you alright?" the tall Navi asked.

"Eh.. I'm fine.." Rockman replied.

"Your expression says otherwise." Glide commented.

Then, a sound was heard, echoing in Rockman's head. It was Roll's oblivious, soft and sweet giggle. Apparently, Iceman and Gutsman had made her laugh. The blue Navi looked up at her and felt sad. She was already inside of the theme park with Gutsman and Iceman, actually, they were at the doors waiting for them to come.

"_She seems so happy_.." Rockman thought.

Still, she didn't remember him. Roll was able to remember of everyone else, but not him, which made Rockman look back down again, and Glide realized what was wrong. Trying to comfort his blue friend, he said a simple comment.

".. Give it time, Rockman. At least, she's alive and breathing now. In time, I'm sure you'll be able to express your feelings for Miss Roll." the tall Navi commented.

"Ah?" Rockman looked at Glide, and he did seem to be a little cheered. "You're right, Glide. All I have to do in the meantime is keep her safe." he said.

"That's the spirit. Even if you cannot show your emotions to her yet, nothing is stopping you from being friends with Miss Roll for now." Glide said, as the two Navis keep up with the rest of the group.

Roll's sweet gaze landed on the as she leaned forward and spoke.

"C'mon~! Let's go~!" she said, then smiling. "I wanna ride everything 'til the end of the day~!"

"E-Everything!?" Rockman asked. He realized there is a ghost-house in the theme park.

"Yeah~! Specially the ghost-house~!" Roll replied.

Rockman shrugged. He hates ghosts with all he has in him. But before he could say anything else, Roll grabbed his hand and Glide's, pulling them in.

"C'mon already! We're losing time by standing here!" Roll barked at them.

"A-Ah?" Rockman flushed a little red as Roll pulled him in.

"Hai, hai, we're going, we're going, Miss Roll." Glide just smiled to the pink net Navi.

Then, Roll laughed. It was all that Rockman could hear as they entered into the theme park, Roll's soft laughter. There was lots of Navis whom were making lots of noise, but Rockman didn't bother himself about it, because he was only focused on Roll's cute and adorable face.

* * *

"Netto!" Meiru called. "That's your third dose of sweet cotton already! You're gonna get sick if you keep eating like that!" she warned.

"But I like it! It's so sweet and tasty!" Netto mumbled between his chews. "You should try it too, Meiru-chan~!"

"No, thanks, I'm full just by looking at you, Netto.." Meiru looked away.

"Hey, everyone, let's check out the firing stands!" called out Tohru.

"Uuh, this ought to be fun!" said Netto.

"Eh, where's the fun in it? Just firing against the wall has no fun at all..." said Meiru. "Let's check the beauty stands over there instead~!"

"Yeah, let's go!" Yaito agreed with Meiru. "That's way much more fun than be firing at a wall, that's for sure!"

The two girls changed ways and went over to the beauty stands, while the guys stood by the firing.

"Eh, girls are no fun at all." commented Netto as he grabbed a shotgun. "Who cares about "beauty" stuff anyway..?" he asked.

"Well, girls always like to be pretty.." Tohru replied, watching Dekao grabbing a shotgun as well.

"Some girls need beauty stuff, but not my Meiru-chan~! She is a living beauty herself~!" Dekao commented as he aimed to the targets in the walls.

Netto puffed his cheeks a little and rolled his eyes with Dekao's comment as he aimed as well.

"Humph!" Netto began to fire like hell with all the spots, surprisingly hitting all of the targets.

Poor Dekao didn't even had time to react, for Netto had already hit every possible targets and took his prize, that was a huge cream teddy bear with a red bow at its neck.

"Eh, what was that for, Netto?" asked Dekao, a little mad at him. "I was going to win that prize to my Meiru-chan..!"

"Tough luck..!" Netto just moved on to the next firing stand without say anything else.

"What's wrong with him today anyway..?" asked Dekao, still a little pissed.

"Don't ask.. I don't know." Tohru replied with his neutral expression.

In the meantime, the two girls had already arrived from their short shopping.

"Hey there, we're back~!" Yaito said as she held a small bag.

"Ah.. Where's Netto at?" Meiru asked, as she noticed that the bandana boy was missing.

"He's over there." Tohru pointed at a specific firing stand.

"Ooh, that's a cute teddy bear he has there~." Meiru commented.

"Dekao said he wanted to earn it for you. It was kinda funny actually and--" Tohru's words were cut.

"Hey, hey, hey! Look, Meiru, I got this for you~." Dekao bounced in between and gave Meiru something.

"Oh why, thank you, Dekao." the red-haired girl took the gift.

She looked at what seemed to be a small puppet. It had the shape of a dog, but it wasn't very good, and Meiru didn't actually liked it much, but she accepted it anyway, because she knew if she'd turn Dekao down, he'd make a huge scene in the middle of everyone, so she just stood quiet about it. Then, Netto appeared next to them holding another huge prize. This time, it was a kawai white and fluffy bunny, with a pink flower over its head. He simply went closer to Meiru and handed her the two big plushies. Meiru flushed red to this and looked away as Netto made a neutral comment.

"Here. I thought you'd probably like these." Netto said.

"Euh.. Th-Thanks, Netto-kun.." Meiru replied, looking away.

* * *

The net Navis were also around the firing stands and Roll was trying -and failing- to hit a target. Iceman had been trying to help the girl, but he wasn't doing much help so far.

"Ooh, why I can't hit those things?" Roll asked, as she puffed her cheeks with air and firing some more shoots, but failing them all. "Ooh!"

"You're doing it wrong, Roll-Chan." someone sneaked from behind the pink Navi. It was Rockman.

"Ah? Rokku-chan? Can you help me?" Roll asked.

"Sure. Well, you have to relax your arm a little bit.. yeah, like that, and then, lift your arm a little more, good.. and then, you have to actually _aim_ at the targets, and not shoot at random spots." Rockman explained. He placed himself behind -and close- to Roll, and he rested his chin over her left shoulder. "Then.. all you have to do is shoot at the targets, Roll-Chan." he added, closing his eyes for a second.

The girl felt his weight over her shoulder and she looked at Rockman, noticing his expression, leaving her puzzled.

"Ah? Rokku-chan?" Roll obviously didn't get what Rockman was doing, which was what was leaving her puzzled. "Are you tired already?"

Rockman snapped and he lifted his head from her shoulder and he stared at the targets.

"E-Eh.. N-No, not at all, Roll-Chan. Eh, go ahead and shoot now, if you want." Rockman said.

"Okay, if you say so~!" Roll just smiled and looked forward, and she fired at the targets, hitting only a few of them.

The Navi in charge gave Roll her prize that was a small puppet with the shape of a monkey, and Roll didn't get pleased with that.

"Ooh, but I wanted that butterfly...!" the girl seemed depressed at her prize.

"Well, I cannot do anything ab--" the Navi's words were cut, for Rockman had already loaded his Rock-Buster and he hit every targets that were in the stand, and not missing a single one.

"Is that enough?" Rockman asked as he turned his Buster into his normal hand and looked at the Navi.

"Y-Yeah, sir." the Navi went back and grabbed Roll's new prize.

Rockman took it and he handed it to Roll. It was just what she wanted: a big plushie with the shape of a white and lavender butterfly.

"H-Here, Roll-Chan, it was this one that you wanted, right?" Rockman asked as he flushed a little red.

Roll took the butterfly in her arms, but in the phase of a second, she touched Rockman's hand, which made him turn redder, and which left the girl more puzzled. As in her programming, Roll was still too "young", she could not place why Rockman was blushing like that. She just looked at him, trying to analyze why he was like that, though she couldn't figure out why. Rockman looked back at her, not saying anything, he was simply too red to say anything. Before Roll could say anything else, a net-window appeared by her side and Meiru was standing in front of it, and she seemed to be holding a chip.

_"Hey there, Roll. I bought something for you~!"_ Meiru's voice came out of the net-window.

"Really~? What is it~?" Roll asked, cheerful.

_"Chip! Kimono! Download!" _Meiru inserted the chip into her PET.

Roll's body materialized a white cute kimono. The girl looked at it for a few seconds, and then she looked at Rockman with her smile.

"Eh, what do you think about it, Rokku-chan?" Roll asked, smiling.

_**Next in "Forgotten Love: Memories" …**_

**Roll: **Ooh, this is being so much fun~! I'm hungry! Let's eat something!

**Rockman: **Roll-Chan, I think you should calm down..

**Gutsman: **Gutsman is hungry too..

**Iceman: **You just can't stop thinking about food, can you?

**AN: **Oyo… Gomen, gomen, I apologize if this chapter is a little too long, I only noticed about it when I finished it. Sorry. I'll upload the next chapter as soon as I write it.


	4. Horrifying Feelings and Nightmares

**Chapter 3 – Horrifying Feelings and Nightmares**

Rockman couldn't help but blush. A lot. This didn't go unnoticed to the pink Navi. Her face got a puzzled expression as she gazed at Rockman.

"Rokku-chan..?"

But he couldn't react. She looked too damn beautiful. All Rockman could feel was a tremendous urge to hug her tightly in his arms, but he was doing his best to hold himself.

"Rokku-chan. Are you okay?" Roll asked, with a concerned ton in her soft voice.

Now Rockman began to panic in the inside, for he was blocked. He wanted to reply, yes. He wanted to tell her she looked amazing, he wanted to tell her that she was the most beautiful net Navi in his eyes, but Rockman was frozen. Lucky for him, Iceman and Glide saw this and went to 'rescue' him for that situation. Giving each other a quick glance, they nodded to each other and moved in to Rockman and Roll.

"Ne, ne, Roll-san! Come on, let's see that one over there!" Iceman called out for Roll.

"Hum.. Alright, let's go~!" Roll turned and ran over to Iceman.

Rockman just glanced over to Roll before leaning his head fully down, looking extremely depressed. In the mean time, Glide had arrived and he stood next to him.

".. How long is it gonna take...?" knowing of the other Navi's presence there, Rockman asked. You could see that he could cry at any second now. Yes, he is the strongest net Navi around, but hell, he has feelings as well, just like any other Navi, and right now, Rockman's feelings were deeply crushed.

"I'm afraid I'm not able to answer to that question, Rockman..." Glide felt somehow guilty, for he didn't like to see his friends hurt like that. Rockman was hurt because he couldn't show any emotion to the Navi he loves, and Roll was hurt because she couldn't remember of Rockman. "I'm sure it must pain you a lot..." he tried to comfort his friend.

".. You have no idea how much it does, Glide.." Rockman said, still looking down.

Now that was it. Rockman couldn't hold himself any longer. He felt two streams of tears running down his cheeks. Glide was aware of that, but he didn't say anything in contrary, for he knew his friend had a lot bottled inside.

"Now, now.. Just let it all out, Rockman.." Glide just said.

Rockman just didn't yell his heart out, for he was in the middle of the theme park. Still in that state, the blue bomber still had his dignity and reputation to keep. (**AN:** Let's not make him a wuss, okay, people? He's sad, yes, but I'm not going to make him a cry-baby. _._) Yet, his sobs, for how low they could be, reached Roll's hearing sensors.

"Ah? Rokku-chan?" the blue bomber's –very low– sobs made her spin right away and run towards him.

Still looking down, Rockman felt something tugging onto him tightly. It was when he realized that Roll had run to him and that she was hugging him. The pink Navi wasn't aware, but this had made him even worse than how he already was feeling.

"Why are you so sad, Rokku-chan..?" Roll asked, with a very worried ton of voice as she buried her face on his chest.

".. A-Aah..?" Rockman didn't know what to do, so he just did something he would never expect to do in his life.

_Plug-out already. Run away from her. You can't stand being like this for too long. You know you'll break if you don't run..._

During that minute, Rockman could only plug-out and lock himself inside of the PET, leaving a puzzled Roll in the theme park. As soon as he arrived at his HP, Rockman crouched in the deepest corner of his HP, but this time he didn't cut down the communications. Probably because he didn't cared about it, or he simply didn't remember.

Netto noticed this and he looked to his PET.

"Rockman? Are you ok?" the bandana boy asked.

But Rockman didn't reply. He simply held his knees and stared down as his sobs began to do an echo in his entire HP. Netto understood right away what was wrong, and he didn't bothered his net Navi for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

_2:37 am..._

Everyone is fast asleep in the Sakurai house.

".. H... Hum..."

Well, not exactly _everyone_...

".. H-Hmm..."

Inside of Roll's pink HP, the pink net Navi couldn't sleep herself. Her eyes were closed, but she was between the brinks of the waking up and the passing out. She was struggling in the inside and her fists were fully closed against her palms as she curled herself in a ball. It was pretty clear that Roll was having a nightmare.

– Roll's nightmare –

_The pink Navi was in the middle of a field of red roses. Her favourite, but she didn't remember about that just yet. She was wearing her normal plug suit, just her helmet was gone and her piece of hair was turned into real hair, matching Blues' hair in size, just in her yellow color and green ribbon holding the edge._

"_Whoa, it's so pretty!" Roll said in a sweet voice, that was hers._

_Everything was calm and quiet, until..._

"_A-Ah? What's happening..?"_

_The roses at Roll's feet turned black as a tremendous gust of wind appeared, swiping away and 'killing' all the other roses. Roll's face gained a terrified expression as she looked forward and saw someone. He was around the same size as her and he was wearing dark-blue. Roll was about to make who he was, but her vision had begun to turn foggy and he had a white mask over his face._

"_W-Who are you?" she asked._

_The other being didn't reply. He just stood there, gazing at her with his mask._

"_Who are you!" she barked at him. "What are you doing to the flowers?"_

"_.. You want to know who I am.. Roll-Chan?" he asked back._

_His voice was so familiar. Just like a deja-vu, so powerful that it made Roll's head turn light, very light. Roll keep looking at the other being and just when he had grabbed his mask and began to remove it..._

– End Roll's nightmare –

"AH!" Roll's eyes snapped open. She found herself feeling as if she was in a cold sweat from the rush and adrenaline of her dream, no, of her nightmare, because in Roll's oblivious' eyes, that had been a terrible nightmare.

".. _What..? Who.. W-Who was that Navi..? _" was what the pink Navi couldn't stop asking herself as she got herself together.

* * *

**AN:** I apologize for the delay, everyone. (Bows head) I know that there are at least two people who are keeping up with this fanfic, whom I thank so much for that. Yeah, you two who have reviewed my fanfic, I want to thank you so much for the reviews. I apologize, for I'm no good with names. I could just copy and paste them, but I'm way too lazy to do that. ^^'' Well, the two people who reviewed my fanfic surely know that this thank you is for them.

I won't be writing the "Next" part anymore, just because I never know what I am going to write in the next chapter, and because in the other two chapters, it made no sense at all.

I will start working on the next chapter as soon as I can. Now with my Easter's two weeks vacations coming up, I might have some extra time to keep up with the stories and maybe upload some more chapters soon, if I'm not asleep until late, which is something I just love to do. 3

**Rock on, Minna! From, Hatto-Chan**


	5. Chapter 4: New Appearances

**Chapter 4 – ****New Appearances**

"Roll? Are you alright?" a concerned Meiru asked her with sleepy eyes. "I heard you screaming and I got worried. What's wrong?"

"I.. I had a nightmare, Meiru-chan." Roll said as she shivered a little.

"I see.. Well, try to get some sleep, Roll. Tomorrow is your check-up day at Sci Labs, so if there are any bugs on your systems, I'm sure Mr. Hikari will be able to fix you." Meiru said with a smile of hers. Just like if she were a big sister.

"Alright~! Oh, oh~! Maybe I'll get to see Rokku-chan again~!" Roll seemed quite cheerful.

"Well, maybe. Now get some sleep, tomorrow is a school day." Meiru smiled again.

"Okay. I'm sorry I woke you up, Meiru-chan." Roll bowed her head down.

"Roll.." Meiru called out.

"Hm? What is it, Meiru-chan?" Roll brought her head up and looked at her Net Op.

"Do you remember anything?" the Net Op asked.

"Ou? You mean about my nightmare?" Roll tilted her head to the side, puzzled.

"Ah.. Y-Yeah, sure, that." Meiru replied.

As Roll told Meiru about her said nightmare, the red-haired girl found herself sad, for she was hoping that Roll had recalled something from her memory.

* * *

"Well, nothing seems to be wrong with your systems, Roll." Mr. Hikari said.

The pink Navi was being checked up inside of two large spinning white circles. She was awake and she was looking around. Roll seemed to be searching for something, no, more likely, _someone_.

"Are you looking for something, Roll?" Mr. Hikari asked her.

"E-Euh, n-no..!" the pink Navi stared down as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I-I'm not looking for anyone.." she just said.

Then, something caught the pink Navi's attention. A few sounds, which made her understand that two Navis were fighting. She then looked to the side to see Netto and Enzan, both cross-fused, in the middle of their battle practice.

"_Whoa.. They're so strong.. Specially Rokku-chan_.." Roll thought for herself as she let out a low giggle.

As she was watching the two Net Saviors battling, she was caught up in Rockman's gaze, who was defending Blues' Sword attack.

"_A-Ah? Roll-Chan?"_ the inside Navi completely forgot about the battle and he keep looking back at Roll's adorable face.

"Ah, oi, Rockman! Don't get distracted!" Netto barked at his inside Navi.

"Stopping is not an option!" Blues and Enzan slashed forward, breaking Netto's cross fuse.

The battle soon ended, and the Dimensional Area was set off, breaking up Enzan's cross fuse as well. The dual haired boy just smirked as he began to walk away.

"If you get distracted, then you'll get deleted in the battle field." Enzan said.

"Oi! It wasn't my fault! If Rockman hadn't got distracted by looking at whatever-the-thing-was, we'd win to you two for sure!" Netto barked back at Enzan.

"You two are still rivals like that? After all you went through?" Meiru went up to the two guys as their net Navis were logged into Sci Lab's network.

"Geez, Blues, you could had went easy on Netto-kun.." Rockman commented, rubbing his right shoulder.

"Whoa, that was so cool~! You two are so strong~!" Roll bumped in between the two Navis and she grabbed their arms. Just like she used to.

"Eh, looks like you have someone else to talk with, so, I'll be off." Blues commented.

"No, Blues-sama, stay with us. Okay?" Roll asked with her most adorable face that made Rockman slightly blush.

"No. I apologize, Miss Roll, but I must go." with that, Blues logged to inside his PET.

"Oww.. Blues-sama left.." Roll felt a little sad at the fact.

"But, Roll-Chan.. I'm still here." Rockman caught the girl's attention.

"Yeah, that's right! Do you want to go with me and get some ice cream, Rokku-chan?" Roll asked with her cute smile. "After that battle, you must be hungry, ne?"

"Actually, yes, I am indeed, a little hungry. Netto-kun, you don't mind that I got with Roll-Chan for some ice cream, do you?" Rockman as he turned to a net-window.

"No, of course not. Go on, Rockman." Netto gave a 'thumbs up' sign to his older brother.

"Watch over him, will you, Roll?" Meiru teased a little.

"Haai, hai, Meiru-chan! I will!" the pink Navi shot back at her net op, always with her smile.

While that, Mr. Hikari was reading the pink Navi's heart system report, and he noticed that Roll's heart pounded faster as she spoke. Meiru noticed Mr. Hikari's expression change and with that, she went to talk to him.

"Could it possibly be..?" Meiru didn't finish her question, for she got a nod in denial from the older man in the same minute.

"No. A moment ago it was just a simple spark from her heart systems. It's like if she has nothing more but just a "childish crush", in a figure of speech." Mr. Hikari explained. "She cannot feel love like Rockman does yet."

Meiru looked a little depressed to that. It had been just a 'false alarm' crush. She wanted her friend to get better soon. She wanted Roll got retrieve all her memories again, so that she could experience love in its best shape, but like this, like a little child, she couldn't feel anything good enough as love yet.

* * *

Internet City. The best place to hang on. It has everything you need. From cheap bars to the most expensive restaurants. From dark alleys to amazing avenues. Also the tallest buildings to check out the view. Just perfect for any Navi's tastes. But now, there was a specific net Navi whom was sitting over one of the tallest buildings of Net City. His body was covered with a black plug-suit, while his helmet, gloves and boots were a deep-purple color. His red empty orbs were snapped open and he surely seemed to be looking for something, or _someone_.

".. Where are you, little net Navi..? Come out, come on out, wherever you are.." the Navi's ton of voice was evil. Very evil. It had a spark of lust and maliciousness in it. It was very easy to see that this new Navi was up to no good.

While he was searching around the netcity, he looked like he was happy. But it wasn't a normal happiness. His evil and perverse mind had the worst thoughts within it as he whistled a melody. A melody that surely wouldn't sound very nice to a normal good net Navi. It would only sound nice to evil Navis. Then, in between a few notes, a sound came to him. It was a laugher. It was the sweetest giggle you can think of. Oh, how it was exactly, exactly what he was expecting and waiting for. His lips formed a smirk, but such evil that it could break anyone's legs in the same minute. It was full with lust within it. It had meant that his search had come to an end. He had found who he was looking for. And he'd go after that Navi. He stood up and with one single evil comment to himself, he warped away in Data pieces.

"You shall be mine, little Navi.. And with you in my possession, I shall finally be able to achieve my dear, sweet, sweet, vengeance towards him.. This surely will be pleasant.."

* * *

"Ooh~! Rokku-chan, I'm having so much fun~!" Roll spoke up with a giggle.

Rockman just smiled. It was actually all he could do. He sure loved the pink Navi's sweet giggles. Every time Roll would giggle to him, it was like if Rockman was being given thousands of soft bells to. All of them softly ringing at his hearing sensors. It was his favourite melody in the world – Roll's gentle giggle.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Roll-Chan." Rockman said with his smile at her.

"Hey, hey, Rokku-chan, I like your smile." The pink Navi said, cheerful, in her most innocent voice.

This last comment from the pink Navi made the blue bomber blush for what seemed to be 17th time already. He'd always look away, so that he wouldn't leave Roll puzzled, but she had noticed most of his blushes, and she had begun to think he was sick or something.

"Ooh, Rokku-chan, you blush a lot." Roll commented again. "Are you sick?" she asked him.

"E-Eh, n-no.. I.. well.." Rockman didn't know how to reply to his sweetheart this time, so, he just stopped trying to and he decided to change the subject. "Hey, Roll-Chan.." he called out.

"Hmm?" Roll tilted her head to the side, to gaze at her friend. "What is it?" she asked.

"Hum.. This.." Rockman replied as he held a little shinny lavender object up.

* * *

_Dark_. That's the only word that you are able to resume him with. He's mean. He's evil. He's dark. His personality is filled with lust, envy and hatred. He has the most malicious smile that any Navi could ever have. He laughed as well. But it was a different laugher. It was one packed with irony and rage. Also a blink of angst. He felt lonely, that was for sure. But he didn't care about that. He shoved those "pathetic feelings", as he thought of them, just like compassion, mercy, sadness, away. He didn't even ever felt what true love was. He only knew what anger, hatred, despair and rage were. Those were the only feelings he was aware of. Those were the only emotions he could feel inside his cold rock heart. His face was always with a deceitful expression. He sure seemed to be angry at someone. He surely wanted to get his so-dearly revenge on _him_. At all costs. No matter by how means he'd get his revenge. By all costs..

".. _As soon as I find you, and get you, little Net Navi.. my revenge towards him will feel so good.. And you shall know how real pain feels like.. And him.. He will feel in his own skin how I felt when I was deleted.. I was indeed gone.. But now, I have came back again.. and I want my revenge.. And I _will _get it_.." the evil Navi thought for himself as he jumped from rooftop from rooftop. From building to building. He already knew where the Navi he was searching for was placed, and he knew that it would be the easiest move for him to collect that specific Net Navi for himself.

**AN:** I'm soo sorry for the delay, everyone who reads my story. I totally lost my inspiration to write, and I'm trying to get it back. One day, I got a comment on a drawing from my DeviantArt account, which inspired me back to write again. So, this chapter was dedicated to FutatsunoKaanjitsu from DA. Thank you for inspiring me back to write! I must say, if any of you has ideas for my story, please send me a message and tell me, for I am looking for some cool ideas to keep writing. =D

**Take care, Minna! From Hatto-Chan! =3**


	6. Chapter 5: Sci Labs is Under Attack?

**Chapter 5 – Sci Labs is Under Attack?**

"Ooh~! I love it, Rokku-Chan~!" Roll was as happy just like a little kid who had just been given a huge strawberry lollipop to.

Roll was amazed with a cute lavender butterfly pin that Rockman had bought for her. The male Navi grabbed the pin and he placed it over the girl's helmet, and the pin soon got glued onto it. Roll squealed with pure joy and happiness.

"There.. It looks.. very pretty on you, Roll-Chan.." Rockman commented.

"Thank you so much, Rokku-chan~!" Roll jumped onto Rockman's arms and smiled cutely, while giggling softly again. She couldn't have had a better present. Plus, even though she could not recall, it was from _him_.

Rockman just smiled back at the female Navi. It was a smile that showed pain and longing. Roll didn't notice it, for she was too busy squealing and giggling over her new head pin as she began walking forward again. The blue bomber looked at the other Navi and his pained expression darkened. He wanted to hug and hold Roll in his arms. He wanted to do it so badly. So bad, that it made his guts hurt. He felt his chest burn heavily with his feelings bottled up inside. He wanted to release them, but then Roll's reaction would most likely be the worst one. Since she's with a young child's mind, she might not understand his feelings at all and even, think he's just playing with her. This pain made him recall one time where about the same thing happened. The two Navis were just walking before Rockman had to leave for one of his breath-taking missions. He wanted to invite her to have dinner with him when he'd be back, but he never got the chance to. Only because he didn't have enough courage to ask her out, since he feared her refusal. And Roll never knew of the invitation, because Rockman didn't even tell Netto about it. He sighed loudly, but she didn't listen. After a moment of gazing at the sky, he looked at the Navi he worked so hard to protect. He almost lost his life once. It was a time where he couldn't find her anywhere, and his worry almost got him deleted. In the end, he was able to find her and defeat the villain. But that is not the point here. He looked at the Navi he always looked after. If she were safe, then everything was alright to him. If she were happy, then he'd also be happy. It was enough for him, just to know that she was safe and sound, even if away from his arms.

"_Roll-Chan.. When are you going to remember me again..?"_ he asked himself.

As they walked, Roll casually looked back, only to notice Rockman's expression. Such an expression would always leave her puzzled, for she could not understand why he was sad all the time. But when their gaze crossed, he would always put up a smile, to not make her worry, but somehow, Roll knew that he was still sad. And yet, he wouldn't tell her why. He would just smile to her and keep walking. She could only realize that she did not understand him.

"Rokku-chan?" she called out to him. "Are you alright?" she asked, with an innocent expression in her eyes.

_"Rokku-Chan." _Just like that. No emotion at all...

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just.. tired, Roll-Chan." Rockman replied, with a weak smile.

"Ah, okay~" the pink Navi said, happily.

Rockman's pained expression would always come back when she'd turn away from him. There were so many things he wanted to say to her. One of the things that he wished to say, more than anything, was that he was really glad that she was alive and breathing again. Well, not really, really, breathing, but you understand the point. She didn't even know that he loved her. Something that supposedly is the best thing for someone to be aware of. Roll wasn't even aware of the true reasons of him looking at her with such a painfully sad expression. Truth was, he missed her 'older' other self, but she didn't know about that. He loved her, but, he couldn't tell her anything just yet, which was hurting him most...

* * *

"Meiru-chan~ we're back~" Roll said happily.

"Oh, hi. Did you have fun?" Meiru asked with a smile.

"Yeah, sure did! Look what Rokku-chan got me~!" Roll pointed madly at her headpin.

"Oh, that's very pretty." Meiru smiled again.

"Thank you~" Roll stood like a polite little child.

Rockman and Roll were back at Sci Labs. The whole group was there. Apparently, they called everyone and decided to have dinner there. Consequently, all the Navis were there as well. Including Enzan and Blues.

"Hello everyone." Rockman waved with a weak smile.

As he spoke, Roll passed by him to greet everyone. The blue bomber looked at her again. He wasn't even aware that his pained expression was quickly returning to his face. Glide was the first to notice this. Then Blues and Iceman. Gutsman noticed some long faces among the group and was left puzzled by them.

"Ne, ne, why is Rockman with such a weird face?" The large Navi asked, poking Rockman's face with his large index left finger.

Roll noticed Rockman's name in between her happy conversations with both Glide and Iceman, which made her turn her face to actually see the blue bomber's expression. He seemed sad. That was the first thought that crossed the pink Navi's mind. She just tilted her head to the side. Just as she was about to say a few words about it, something else exited her lips.

".. Something's coming." What she said made everyone remain quiet for a few moments, and then look at her.

"What do you mean, Roll?" Meiru asked.

".. There." The pink Navi said again. This time, she pointed at the front doors of the Sci Labs' network. Upon better check, Glide noticed that the female Navi's antennas were slightly trembling. He looked at where she was pointing at, but saw nothing. Everyone blinked as they looked at Roll again, who kept pointing at the outside.

No sooner than two seconds, the alarms' began making noise. Several security Navis ran past the group to the outside. Roll just lowered her arm as the group got closer to her.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Iceman said.

"How did Roll-Chan know that there were viruses coming over?" Gutsman asked.

"I don't know." She looked around everyone. "Something in my head just told me that something bad was coming." She explained, while scratching the back of her head. Just like she used to.

"Her antennas give her the ability to tell when there are viruses around." Meiru explained. "Good call, Roll." The net op smiled at her Navi.

"Thank you, Meiru-chan!" the pink Navi said happily, with a small blush.

But the happiness was soon finished, as the security Navis came rushing back into the Labs again. They all looked quite tired. Some of them had some bruises on their arms, legs and heads.

"Rockman-san! Blues-san!" one of them called out. "We need your assistance out there! We are not able to defeat them!"

"Isn't it just a regular bug error?" Rockman asked, puzzled.

"Sir, no, sir." One of the Navis said.

"It's a bunch of Life Viruses, Sir!" another said.

"Life Viruses?"

"Sir, yes, sir. And they are huge!"

"And they can use electricity as well! Most of our outside defenses are beginning to shatter!"

"How bad is it?" Meijin asked.

"Very bad, sir." One of the security Navis said, nodding his head madly.

"Very." A second one added.

"Netto. Enzan." Yuuichiro called out, getting the two adolescents' attention. "Bring Rockman and Blues in. See what you can do about this potential threat."

"Yes, Dad." Netto smiled.

"We're going." Enzan nodded his head.

The two turned to leave and took off. Back in the network, all the Navis' eyes were on Rockman and Blues.

"Be careful out there." Glide said.

"Yeah." Rockman nodded his head.

As the blue bomber and the crimson Navi rushed to the entrance, something sparked on the deeps of Roll's mind. It was the sound of clinging bells. It appeared just as quick as it disappeared. Roll only had the time to blink once, before a couple of words exited her lips.

"Rokku-chan?" she asked as she looked at him running off.

The blue bomber only had the time to turn his torso back and muffle a few words to her.

"Don't worry. Just stay there. I'll be back. I promise." He said with a smile.

"Eh..?"

"_Don't worry. Just stay there. I'll be back. I promise."_

Those words. Just like he had spoken them before. Just before he had to leave for one of the hardest missions he would ever have. He only had the time to tell her that it would all be fine and that he would surely be back soon. At that time, the pink Navi would have ran to the blue bomber and hold him tight in her arms, and then say she loved him, but now, she did not do anything. Only because her systems were having an override with the intense emotions she just been through. She was not able to hold them for too long, and a few more words exited her lips, without her being aware of it.

"No! Where are you go--"

The feeling that she wouldn't see him anymore. Like she would never be able to talk to him again. Like she would never be able to take walks with him again. Such a wave of sadness entered her little beating mechanic heart. The bitter angst. The sudden loneliness. A tight pain that seemed like it was crushing her heart. That's what she felt at that precise moment. Unconscious of it, Roll tried to run towards him, but he was already too far from her reach. She did not understand it. She didn't know why she had felt weird when he turned away from her. She did not know why she had felt a strange bitter emotion in her heart when he left. She did not even think when she took those steps forward. She just thought she didn't want him to leave her. She just didn't want to see him go away like that. She felt like screaming, but her brain blocked that thought away from her. She just kept her left arm upwards, extended towards him. It all happened too fast, though. Just as she was calling out to him, it was like something suddenly hit her in the head. Her voice seemed to break as she spoke, like when you're watching a movie and your computer jams and you listen to the actor's voice weirdly for a second before everything gets back running well again. She didn't even acknowledge that she was falling towards the ground head on. She didn't acknowledge even when Glide caught her before she actually fell. He gently held her chin with his right hand and wrapped the female Navi's rib cage with his left arm. Doing so, he was able to ease her fall so that she wouldn't notice it.

"Miss Roll!" Glide called out.

".. Rokku.. chan.." she said, eyes closed, before she lost her consciousness and fell limb in Glide's arms.

"Roll! Roll!" Meiru called from the PET, distressed by her Navi's actions.

"What was that?" Iceman asked.

"I do not know." Glide replied, looking at Roll with a concerned expression.

"Nice hold de gutsu." Gutsman said, always clueless.

Iceman gave him a stare which made Gutsman flinch and step back a little bit.

"Mr. Hikari! Roll just collapsed!" Meiru called distressed as Netto's father appeared in the room.

"What? But she was fine just a moment ago." The 'doctor' said as a confused expression filled his face.

"I know, but she just collapsed! Please do something!" Meiru pleaded, almost crying.

"Alright, alright. I'll check her systems again. Bring her over to that Scan Sphere." Yuuichiro motioned to a certain spot of the Lab.

"Yes." Glide did as told and correctly picked Roll up and took her to where the doctor had said.

* * *

"Gah! What's up with all these stupid viruses?!" Rockman asked, clearly annoyed with the sudden attack.

"Who knows.." Blues replied. "At least you can compensate from your earlier loss this morning." The crimson Navi teased, quite unusual for him.

"T-That didn't count!" Rockman barked, almost tripping. "I-I was distracted then!" he pouted, deleting one of the last viruses with his Rock-Buster. Something he didn't understand was how the Security Navis couldn't handle these weak viruses. The difference in the power was just huge, since he didn't even had the need to use a higher ranked Chip to battle.

".. My point exactly." Blues said, deleting another one with no effort at all with his Standard Sword and cutting Rockman out of his thoughts.

There was only one Life Virus left. Rockman and Blues stood before it and regained their attack stances.

"Last one." Rockman said, aiming.

"Hm." Blues just nodded his head.

The two took a step forward, but as they were going to attack, a voice was heard.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Will you please leave my little virus alone? It didn't do anything to you." a Navi jumped into the virus' shoulder, showing themselves.

"That's a.." Rockman began.

"Girl." Blues finished. "Miss, your viruses were trespassing Sci Labs' properties and infecting them. It was clear that we had to make a move against them." the crimson Navi explained.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about them." the female Navi said. Her dark-brown hair was visible, for she had no helmet. Her eyes were light blue and two small black thunders were located just below each her eye. The edges of her long hair curved and her clothing was light blue, even though the same were a little too small and showy. The loops of her top were quite falling, showing her beautiful shoulders and neck, being slightly covered with a necklace. Below, her pants were almost transparent and her legs were slightly visible. She also had a blank Navi Crest over each her hip, and of course over her hearing sensors, which meant that she was a Solo Navi, meaning, a Navi without a Net Operator. By her beautiful looks, one would easily say she was a princess from some far away desert.

"Anyways." Rockman called her attention, "I will have to ask you to leave this perimeter at once." He explained.

"Oh, alright. I'm really, really sorry, you guys." The female Navi bowed forward.

As she did so, both Blues and Rockman turned their heads, for the female's chest would be clearly too visible and both Navis were already 'taken'. As she leaned upwards again, the two male Navis looked at her once again.

"I hope I didn't get into much trouble here." she said, with a sad smile. "Come on now, you. Don't get yourself deleted like your brothers." She motioned to the Life Virus to leave with a wider smile, and it obeyed, dematerializing itself. The female turned towards an Exit Point, but then she turned to the other two. "I'm sure we'll see each other again~ My name's Blitz~" the female introduced herself, with a rather cute smile.

None of the two males said anything as she turned again and took an Exit and left the area.

"At least she was polite to leave right away." Rockman commented, after a moment. "Well, case closed. It was just a Solo Navi with their viruses." He began tapping a report.

".. No." Blues cut him after a while. ".. Something was off." He commented.

"Eh?" Rockman asked. "What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.

"Every Navi is quite aware that they are not allowed in the Sci Labs' network without proper permission. That Navi must have been here for a reason.." Blues commented.

"And what would that reason be?" Rockman asked. "No enemy would come here knowing that we are here. They're not that stupid, Blues." The blue bomber commented.

".. I don't know, but just now.." Blues looked away. It was not visible, but under his dark glasses he was frowning.

"Well, anyways, you saw her. She was really polite. Other Navis wouldn't act like that. They'd just trash in and talk nonsense things about wanting to rule the Network and whatever. I'm sure her viruses were just having an override on their programming." He explained.

".. Maybe." Blues said. ".. I'm still not too sure about it." he looked at the Exit Point that the other female Navi had taken and he could swear that he saw something blue peering at the two of them with a malicious aura. But then again, it was nighttime and maybe his vision at night wasn't that good. With no further need to remain outside, the two male Navis walked back inside the Sci Labs' network.

* * *

**AN: Oh my god. I am so sorry for the massive delay, everyone who reads my story. O_o I didn't forget about it, I just had a massive author's block and I didn't know what to write. I absolutely loved ****Aboredwriter2's ideas and I will surely be using some. Thank you for sending those to me. They're saved in my pc, so that I can read them to get more inspired. :) Well, anyways, you could see one of the Navis, created by me. Blitz. I am going to illustrate them and upload them into my DeviantArt account, so, keep up with that one too. Just remove the spaces. ( w w w . r o l l – e x e . d e v i a n t a r t . c o m ) I will try to keep writing more, but with school keeping me this busy, I'm not too sure about my chances. I'm sorry I take ages to update, but I'm just this lazy. I'm really sorry, readers. I also updated the previous chapters again, due to some grammar errors, but nothing extensive, so, you don't really need to read everything over again.**

**Thank you for reading these notes. The next chapter is already under construction and I will try to upload it as soon as I am able to. I thank all of you, readers who keep up with this fanfiction. Thank you so very much for your past reviews! Please R&R and tell me what you think of this chapter, please!**

**From Hatto-Chan =3**


	7. Chapter 6: Sparks from the Past

**AN: Just a small translation note. Some Japanese words are included in this chapter. I will write down all of them with respective translation. I'm not fully sure if the expressions used are correct, so, if any word is wrong, please tell me, so that I can correct it. 'Tadaima' = 'I'm home'. 'Konbawa' = 'Good evening'. 'Oyasumi nasai' = Formal 'good night'. 'Dare?' = 'Who is it?'. 'Ano hito.. Boku no yume.. Dare?' = 'That person.. in my dreams.. Who is it..?'.**

**I also re-updated the Prologue, due to a better written summary. Also, there is a curse included in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Sparks from the Past**

"So, Blitz failed. I see.." the dark Navi asked, while sitting in his throne. He held his chin with his left hand as he looked down at his minions, who were a few corrupted Solo Navis. There was a group of about five Navis before him, and Blitz, the sole female was kneeled slightly closer to the Leader, in order to talk to him.

"Yes, but they didn't seem that much strong to me." Blitz commented, her smile totally faded, giving place to a lustful expression.

"That's because you were using shitty viruses, that's why." A voice came up behind her.

"Che, you're back already.. Sol." Blitz said, rolling her sharpen eyes.

"I saw what you did." Sol commented, as he logged in the area. "If you think that every Navi is going to fall in your seduction, then, you are very wrong."

"It never failed before today." Blitz snorted.

"It never fails with _free_ Navis." Sol corrected. "When the 'victim' is taken, then it always fails, my dear."

Blitz was about to say something to make Sol be quiet, but she was soon stopped by another voice.

"Are you done? I'd like to carry on." Dark said simply, making every Navi shrug.

"My apologies, Dark-sama. It seems that these Navis got the best of me this time." Blitz cleared her throat. "But I swear, next time, I will bring you their deleted remains!"

"No, that will not be necessary. Our next step has already begun." Dark looked to the side. His expression got a slight nostalgic tone.

For a moment, nobody dared to speak a word, but then, someone didn't go along.

"H-Has he gone soft during the time that he was locked up in the NetRecycle Area?" one of the other Navis asked to a second one in a low tone of voice.

"W-Who knows?" the second one replied just as low.

Just as the second Navi finished talking, the two switched a couple of gazes. It was quiet. Way too quiet. This wasn't good. The first gulped while the second one shivered. Then, just the sound of a finger snap was heard and the left arm of the first Navi was left in very small pieces.

"I have not grown soft. I have grown even stronger." Dark said. "Do not dare to question my authority." He got up and walked away, not even bothering to watch the two Navis running away like scared kittens that had just gotten a bottle of water poured on them. When he was away from everything again, Blitz turned to Sol.

"Has he always been like this?" she asked.

"Do not forget.." Sol said simply. "You must never forget who he is.. and what he is capable of doing."

"I know." Blitz said. "I'm well aware of that."

The two Navis decided to log out until further notice. Now completely alone again, Dark looked forward and sighed calmly. ".. I have not grown soft. I am everything but soft, and I _will_ delete him. Even if I must do so with my bare hands.." he looked at his dark purple gloves. ".. And I'll use the Navi he loves most to strike at him where it hurts most.. Only after that I will be able to be in peace.." he then chuckled lowly to himself. "If 'peace' can really be acquired by someone like me.." he said to himself, looking away.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Netto asked. The bandana boy seemed just as puzzled as everyone else in the room. Only Meiru, Netto and Enzan were at Sci Labs. The rest of the group left to their respective houses.

"I don't know. Maybe it was some kind of bug error from Net City's network systems?" Enzan asked as well.

"Hmm.. Not likely, but I'm not sure. Net City's security was much better designed than that." Netto's father, Yuuichiro, made a thinking pose that only he can do.

Meiru remained away from the conversation. She was constantly watching Roll in the Scan Sphere, hoping to see her friend waking up. But Roll didn't wake up. Not just yet. Meiru felt like crying her heart out, but she remained silent and only waited while sitting. Enzan noticed the redhead too quiet and became worried with her current condition, since he would always see her smiling and cheerful, but he was able to understand that with such a situation, no one would have place for happy smiles, only tears.

"Sakurai." The black-white haired boy called out as he reached a safety-distance from the other girl. He remained just a few steps away from her.

"Ah, Enzan.. Hi.." Meiru just looked to the side, towards him. Her face was empathic, due to her Navi's condition.

"How are you holding up?" Enzan asked, with a very small comforting smile.

".. Fine.." she replied, looking forward, towards Roll again.

Enzan noticed that the redhead wasn't going to speak much at that time. Well, who would, when your Navi almost had a breakdown due to their memories? Just as he was about to say something else, something else drained their attentions.

"Ah? What's this?" Netto's father, Yuuichiro, asked to one of his computer screens.

"What is it, Hakase?" Enzan asked as the two returned to the elder Hikari.

"Is Roll any better now?" Meiru asked, with all her concerned filling her voice.

"Yes, I believe she is going to be just fine after resting for tonight." The adult spoke with a reassuring voice.

"Really?" Meiru asked, now being able to breathe correctly.

"Yes, look here." The adult smiled calmly, returning to his computers. "Do you see these levels?" he asked.

"Yes, they're low. Is that alright?" Meiru asked back.

"Yes, those levels there are supposed to be low. I guess you could say they are monitoring Roll's heartbeat." Yuuichiro explained.

"So, she's calm for now, right?" Meiru asked, acknowledging the information.

"Yes, that is why I tell you that she will be alright by tomorrow morning." The adult replied.

Meiru gave a relief sigh. As she looked at her Navi again, the other one spoke to her.

".. Meiru-chan?" the pink Navi called, with her eyes half open.

"Hey, Roll. Your heart rate is normal now, but just for safe, you'll spend the night here, so if anything happens, you'll--"

".. Dare?"

"Eh? What?" Meiru asked, looking at Roll's face in one of the several monitors.

"Ano hito.. Boku no yume.. Dare..?" Roll asked as she closed her eyes again, falling into a restless sleep.

"What? What are you talking about, Roll?" Meiru asked, puzzled.

"Calm down, Meiru. I'm sure there's a clear explanation to the current situation." Enzan said, trying to reassure the redhead.

Meiru turned her head towards him with a hopeful expression, which made Enzan uneasy. He was not used to see the other person like this. Back on Sci Labs' network, Rockman and Blues had been caught up with the situation. Rockman automatically punched a wall, leaving a small hole and blaming himself for leaving Roll like that, but Blues had calmed him, telling it was his work and that he had to go. As they heard Roll asking who the Navi in her dreams was, Rockman's reflection was to look at a monitor that showed the area where she was resting.

"_R-Roll-Chan.. Could it be that you..?"_ he asked himself, as a rather huge feeling of hope began filling his eyes.

Back to the pink navi, she could not understand why she was listening to these weird voices. They seemed almost too familiar to her, but she could not find who it was. The only thing she could realize was that it was a male voice, but she couldn't identify it because it was distorted. She wondered who it was. A few nights before she also heard these voices. It was like.. he was talking to her, because he said her name often, still, Roll couldn't see who it was, for the Navi's image was slightly blurry and when she tried to look at the other Navi's eyes, the image would suddenly end itself. Roll could not understand this. She wanted to know who that Navi was.

"_Oh, nice to meet you too. My name is *******.EXE."_

"_Ne, ne, Roll-Chan! Look, look~! How cool is that~?"_

"_Yo, Roll-Chan~! Tadaima~"_

"_Hm? Is something the matter, Roll-Chan?"_

"_Hey, Roll-Chan, are you alright?"_

"_Oh, that's a cute kitty you have there. Did Meiru-chan get it for you?"_

"_Ahah, I'm glad, Roll-Chan."_

"_Hey, Roll-Chan, don't worry, I'll be back for sure."_

"_Ah, please don't cry, Roll-Chan. You'll make me sad too."_

"_Look, Roll-Chan, um, there's something I need to tell you when I get back. So, um.. wait for me, okay?"_

"_Look, look, Roll-Chan~! Did you see my car? It's so awesome; it's like an F1~! Netto-kun got it for me~. If you want, I'll give you a ride to somewhere, okay?"_

"_Ah, konbawa, Roll-Chan. You're still awake at this hour?"_

"_Oyasumi nasai.. Roll-Chan.."_

".. Who is that? I.. I want to know.." the pink Navi said, before she fell asleep again, into the same restless sleep that was haunting her mind for several days.


	8. Chapter 7: Unprocessed Emotions

**AN: Hello. This is just a side note. I had this chapter almost finished, but then my dear computer had to literally die on me.. It's all good now, and I was able to get most of my things, which I keep saved in CDs, but I was really mad at myself for not saving the most recent things, which I lost, by the way. School works, stories' latest chapters, images, etc. T__T. Seriously, I had a small development between Rockman and Roll, with Rockman going all depressed and stuff. It was just plain awesome. I'll try my best to make it good again, but I must say, I don't remember everything by heart. Only the main parts. Also, I'll be changing my name from Hatto-Chan to Mizu no Hana from now on. Thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoy this re-made chapter.**

**Translation notes: 'Papa' = 'Dad'. 'Hai' = 'Yes'.**

**Question: I don't quite remember how to spell Tory's Japanese name correctly. Please help me, is it Tohru, or Torhu? I really don't know.**

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Unprocessed Emotions**

"I'm glad that Roll-san is feeling better now." Iceman commented.

"Me too, de gutsu~" Gutsman quickly nodded his face in agreement.

The group was taking a stroll in Net City. Netto's father, Hikari Yuuichiro, said that maybe if she saw some places that were familiar to her, she might be able to remember things faster. They had shown her the largest buildings, to which Roll was stupefied by their sizes. They also took her to the main avenues and streets, to which Roll was amazed by the large amount of Battle Chips available and Dress Chips as well. They showed her about everything possible in Net City, and even though the female Navi was enjoying the 'trip' very much, she wasn't able to remember anything so far, which was making a certain blue Navi going insane.

"Where are we going next~?" Roll asked, cheerfully.

"Well, I want to show you this awesome sweet shop." Iceman explained. "You used to go there all the time, so I'm sure you'll still love it." The short Navi smiled.

"Whoaa~" Roll squealed. "Candy~? Yay, I want candy~!" she wiggled her arms around like a young child.

While Roll was happily walking in front of the group and talking with them, Rockman walked behind them the whole time. He was glad that she was alright for now, but it was just still much for him, because she still hadn't remembered him, which was something he could not understand at all. As he walked, he recalled some of Roll's last words before she lost her memories of him and everything else around herself.

_"It's gonna be okay..."_

Okay? Such a lie, Rockman thought. Nothing was alright. Nothing was okay. She didn't remember him and he couldn't say anything to her. Things were far from being alright. As he mused over this, he heard her giggle and saw her smile. He then remembered when she smiled softly towards him. When she used to smile like that to him. Only to him. Now, she gave his smile to everyone. Some random Navi would pass by and she'd smile for them like it was nothing. He couldn't help but feel jealous about it. It was normal, though. She never gave him a smile like that ever since she closed her eyes at that time. When she opened them again and looked at him, her expression was one of indifference. As if he was just some regular Navi that happened to be there as well when she 'woke up'. He came to think that he wanted her to remember him, so that he could tell her that he loved her, but like this, it would take a long time before he would be able to express his feelings for her. There were so many things he wanted to share with her. Serious things. But in her current state, it was not possible for him, because she would, most likely, take it as a joke. All those realizations made his heart ache. Why did she have to remember everyone else and not him? Even Blues, one that she barely, barely talked with?! They were **best friends** for five years, going six that one. It just didn't make any sense in his mind. Maybe she had already remembered everything and was just making him feel bad. No, no. She would never do that. Rockman knew her well enough to tell that. Rockman sighed loudly and shook his head to the idiotic thought. His head might explode if he thought any further. And to make it even worse, her soft giggle kept echoing in his hearing sensors. He used to love that sound. He used to make it through all of his toughest missions, just to be able to listen to that heavenly sound that exited only from her soft and thin lips. But now.. knowing that he couldn't touch her, hold her.. it made it seem like torture to him. He came to curse that soft sound that he loved so much.. He felt his heart aching every day. It was like a tight pain crushing his heart. Plus, since he felt it heavy, it was even worse. Rockman felt like screaming, but lucky for him, his father opened a Net Window in order to talk to him.

"There you are, Rockman. I was looking for you." Yuuichiro said.

"Ah, Papa? Did something happen?" Rockman put aside his unprocessed emotions for a moment as he looked at his father.

"I cannot tell you in your current location." The hakase said, mentioning the rest of the group, who had stopped and were waiting for Rockman just a few steps ahead. "Follow these coordinates and meet Blues in the final point. He'll fill you in."

"Got it, Papa." Rockman said with a low voice. The way he spoke, it seemed like he was tired.

".. Rockman, is everything alright?" his father asked.

"Ah, hai, hai, Papa. Everything's fine." Rockman perked up and smiled, turning around. "I'll be going, then." He said calmly.

"Hm.." his father made that thinking pose of his, already knowing that he was lying. But he wasn't going to do anything for now, for there was work to do. Everything being said, he closed the Net Window.

"Do you have to leave again?" Roll suddenly asked with a sad expression as she held her closed fists against her chest. It was like she feared his answer somehow.

". . ." Rockman turned towards the group with a neutral expression. As he looked at Roll, the sole feeling that he had was to run away from her. ".. Yeah. Something came up." He muffled away, already knowing that they would understand his words.

As he turned to leave towards and Exit Point, he did not wave at the group, like he would usually do. He did not smile and say he'd be back soon. They knew why. They knew that it was because of Roll that Rockman began acting differently. It was easy enough for them to tell. Except for _her_. She was the only one that couldn't see those changes in him. And she would never be able to realize it, as long as her brain made her keep the conscience of a young child. Even Gutsman could tell that something was wrong with Rockman, and that it had something to do with Roll. When Rockman was about to step into the Exit Point, something stopped him from moving any further.

"B-But..!" Roll quickly dashed over to him and held his left arm with her both. Her expression was clueless as always, but it seemed that she didn't want him to go away. The reason why was unknown to her. "Why do you have to go again, Rokku-chan?" she asked, as a sudden deep worried expression began changing places with her clueless one.

_"Rokku-chan." _Just like that. Still no emotions... Still nothing...

". . ." for a moment, Rockman looked at the female Navi with the same neutral expression, void of feelings, but then, he noticed something new. Something he wasn't expecting to see at all. It was the same worried expression that Roll used to make. He saw the worry soaking her eyes, which made him look at her for a moment. He just had to. Roll's expression, her worry, was for _him_. Him and himself alone. It put his heart at ease, and made Rockman breathe calmly for once in weeks. The calmness from the other's worry that invaded his heart made Rockman's green eyes automatically soften towards the pink Navi. At the same time, he didn't realize it, but his smile returned to his lips after weeks of despair. Also, it was one smile that he did only to her. What he cursed afterwards was that that soft moment lasted only for less than a minute.

".. Rokku-chan?" Roll asked confused, clearly misunderstanding his feelings. She did not understand why he was smiling in such a happy way, when he had to leave for work. She did not understand this Navi. He seemed too strange to her. His behavior was strange; the way he acted towards her and the group was strange. All about him was strange to her. Roll did not understand.

".. I will.." Rockman suddenly spoke, after a moment of silence from his part.

"Eh?" Roll was puzzled. Again.

"I will.. definitely come back." Rockman said softly and low toned, for only her hearing sensors. He leant his forehead again hers. He had done the same before, when he had to go against Dark Rockman, his evil copy self. He said the same and they almost kissed, but then, Netto ruined the moment by saying it was time to leave. He would gladly kiss her there, but he was afraid of her reaction, and so, he just left his forehead against hers for just one more second. Again, he was not able to enjoy it.

"If you say you'll be back, then I believe you." Roll said with a smile, pushing herself away from him, and closer to the group behind her. She took several steps back and then pushed her both arms upwards, and then began waving them. "When you come back, let's have ice cream again, Rokku-chan~" she said, happily.

How it hurt. She kept calling him 'Rokku-chan'. If she was really herself, she would never call him like that. He had been called 'Rock' before, but never in such a childish way. The calmness that his heart was able to obtain previously quickly vanished, along with his soft expression and smile. Rockman wasn't able to hold himself, so he just turned around and entered the Exit Point. He almost looked back, hoping that it was all just his imagination; hoping that his Roll was really there with him, but, he did not dare to do so. His mind made him fall into the cruel reality all times. His Roll was not there. His Roll was gone. The Roll that was, in fact, there, was no more than just a child, with no memories of him. He did not look back. He did not say anything else. If he would, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to handle the pressure any longer, and so, he logged out. It was the only possible thing for him to do at that moment. He had to be away from Roll. And from everything else that was dear to him.

"Ah.. Rokku-chan's gone again.." Roll said, with a sad voice.

As she looked at the now empty Exit Point, the rest of the group looked at her. They also wondered. They also kept asking why she wouldn't remember Rockman, from all Navis. They understood that she was still to remember most of the regular things, but, of course, it was sometimes a drag for them. They didn't mind walking her through everything, but it was different. Like something was missing. Well, not something, but _someone_. And that someone wasn't able to be around them for the moment.

"Gutsu, what is wrong with Roll-Chan, de gutsu?" Gutsman asked with a sad expression, clearly not fully understanding the situation. "In one moment she's happy and then in the next she's sad. Gutsman doesn't understand, de gutsu.." he babbled around.

"Hum.. Roll-san?" Iceman called, getting the pink Navi's attention.

"Yes?" the pink Navi turned herself towards the group and smiled bashfully again. As if she wasn't sad anymore.

"You really.. You really don't remember anything?" the small Navi asked.

"Ara? What do you mean, Ice-chan?" Roll asked, with a puzzled smile.

"Ah, nothing, never mind." Iceman looked to the side, with a shrug.

"Okay~ Where are we going next?" Roll quickly put aside her 'sadness' and began walking again.

"Don't worry, Iceman." Glide said, tapping Iceman's shoulder gently. "It is certain that Miss Roll will remember all of her memories." The tall Navi said, trying to reassure the other.

".. I wonder if that'll ever happen.." Iceman kept looking away.

**------------**

"Hey, Blues." Rockman greeted as he logged in the area.

".. You're late." The crimson Navi commented, turning to his companion.

"S-Sorry. What do we have here, then?" Rockman shrugged.

"Traces of illegal underground activities were found around these areas lately." Blues put up a blue map, showing the Net City's downtown area, with a few red spots over it. The spots weren't exactly close from one another, but could be easily accessed by their Net Vehicles. "We are to search for any clues to find what those activities might be and who is performing them." he explained, motioning to mostly storehouses, which were tainted a lively red.

".. I see. Let's get this done, then." Rockman nodded his head and downloaded his F1 car. "I'll head over to the locations 3, 4 and 5. Those are the farthest and I can get there quickly enough. You stay with the areas 1, 2, 6 and then we'll head together for the area 7, which is even further from all others." Rockman suggested, downloading the necessary information to his Vehicle.

".. Got it." Blues stepped back and quickly disappeared, meaning he had already begun the searches, for they were in the location 1.

As the information was sucked in by the F1, Rockman paused for a short moment before he actually left. He couldn't help but sigh loudly. His life was so messed up. The Navi he loved had the brain of a five-year old and now he had to do some very boring searching for whatever the evil Navis were doing this time. He realized that this was going to be a very long day. As he heard the Vehicle beeping twice, meaning that all the info was already loaded, Rockman sighed again.

".. Well, let's get started, then." He said, with a voice void of optimism. His tone was empty and dry as he drove away from the area.

---------------

"Hey, Roll. Did you have fun at Net City today?" Meiru asked with a smile as her Navi logged in her Home Page.

"Yes.." the pink one didn't seem too happy, though.

"Did something happen?" the redhead asked.

".. Why is that every time we're all having fun, Rokku-chan always has to leave?" Roll asked.

"What?" Meiru seemed puzzled.

"Does he not like to have fun with all of us too?" Roll asked, looking towards Meiru.

"Well, I'm sure that he does like to have fun, but you have to know that Rockman's the Navi of a Net Savior, so he must be always busy with work, ne?" Meiru smiled as she explained.

She recalled when she used to helplessly wait for news from Netto, which would take weeks to arrive, and would only include the bandana's boy's brag over his accomplishes in his missions. Not in once did he bother to ask if she was alright, or if she would like a gift from the current Country that he'd be in. No. Nothing. Not ever. To her misbelieve; Enzan once bought her a bag pack strap from a Country, in one of his missions with Netto. It was a small doll with light-brown hair and a pink dress and a wide smile. Also, over the doll's head, was a small white daisy. She remembered only being mouth opened when she received the gift. She was not used to get presents, but it's always sweet when someone sees something nice and thinks about you, isn't it? That was what Meiru thought. That maybe Enzan wasn't as bad and cold as the others always described him. That maybe, just maybe, Enzan wasn't such a bad person at all, and maybe one would be able to have a normal rational conversation, which was something that Meiru was very fond of. She always liked to have serious talks with her parents, but since they were always absent in work, she had no one to talk with. Netto was always a wind-bag. Yes, she liked him, but he was no good to have such conversations. Tohru was far too young and Dekao would only be staring at her and not even bothering to listen to her. She had once tried to talk to Yaito, but the forehead girl would send Meiru in her way, saying she was too busy with her company, which was mostly true, since it was one of the richest companies around, going worldwide even. There was nobody else, and she never really talked much with Enzan, so she did not think of him in such a way. Meiru had nobody to turn to. She used to have Roll, but now with her current state, it was just impossible to even try to have a rational conversation with the pink Navi about anything. Meiru did not realize, but she had begun to doze off while pausing her piano practice. This didn't go unnoticed to Roll, who began wondering what was wrong with her Net Op.

".. Meiru-chan?" Roll asked, with her hands behind her back. Usually, she'd already know the reasons of why Meiru was dazed off, but now, she didn't. She curiously looked at her Net Op. "Are you okay?"

"Ah, yes, yes, Roll. I'm sorry." Meiru chuckled almost nervously. She brushed a few stray red bangs behind her ear and quickly turned to her piano and began playing a soft melody. Without her Navi's awareness, the redhead's smile faded until there was only a sad expression in her eyes, which was reflected in her tune. As she did so, Roll began dancing, not knowing that her Net Op was also in pain.


	9. Chapter 8: Painful Reminisce

**AN: Just a small note to let you know that the large italic blocs are Rockman's memories. Every time that a Navi's or a person's thought is written, it is properly noted. Also, I think it's clear that this story will have more than 10 chapters, which I wasn't expecting at all, but since I was able to form up a decent plot and so forth, I'll be writing more, more! So, keep up with your reading, people, this is going to be a good ride! Thank you so much for the 25 reviews! I wasn't expecting to have so many reviews with just seven chapters. I'm so happy. I really am, so, I decided to dedicate the following chapter to all of you people who reviewed my story. Thank you very, very much! =D Please enjoy!**

**000000000**

**Chapter 8 – Painful Reminisce**

"_Whoa, what a nice night~" Roll waved her arms to the night sky just once, as if she would catch all the stars in one swing._

"_Agreed on that one, Roll-Chan." The blue Navi chuckled at his friend's strange action._

"_Ne, ne, Rockman?"_

"_Hm?"_

"_Hum.. Will.. will we be able to be like this sometime again.. soon?" Roll asked nervously as she looked forward, blushing. She placed her closed fists over her knees._

"_A-Ah, y-yeah, s-sure." Rockman looked forward as well and blushed as well. He also kept his fists over his knees._

_They were able to defeat Fireman with the help of Gutsman and Roll's Water Tower before that day. After that, while their Net Ops remained arguing the entire evening over something as idiotic as which shampoo one should be using or not, the two Navis decided that they didn't want to put up with that and went star gazing. Like every night, the sky was cloudless and some of the cybernetic stars were programmed to shine brighter than others, making it seem like it was same sky as in the Real World. It might not be real for humans, since it was them who created it, but it was real for Net Navis, since they also wished upon shooting stars. Rockman and Roll had moved to their usual spot, the roof of one of the highest buildings of Net City, a newly made skyscraper. It made them feel like they could actually touch the sky if they just stretched out their hands a little bit. They did it sometimes, but were usually quiet and just gazing at the constellations, prefect replicas of the Real World's originals._

"_Ne, Rockman.." Roll called out._

"_Yes?" the other looked at the first and noticed that she was looking up at the stars above them with an empty expression._

"_.. Do you think we're fake too.. like them?" Roll suddenly asked, mentioning the stars above._

".. Roll-Chan.. If only I had understood what you meant at that time.." Rockman said lowly, as he drove.

He wasn't too far from his next location, 4. He had swept the first one, 3, but had found nothing; nothing but dust, empty shelves and dirty broken windows. Like he thought, this was going to be a very boring scout mission. He wasn't even in the right mood to do it, but it was official work, so he just had to be quiet and do it without too much of a fuss. The thing was that he couldn't stop thinking about Roll. Everywhere he would dare to look, he'd see her standing there, normal and smiling at him. Only at him. It was driving him insane, because he knew it wasn't possible. He had to distract himself soon enough with whatever, or else he didn't know what could happen. His brain was boiling already.

"_What do you mean by that, Roll-Chan?" Rockman asked with another chuckle._

_He hadn't meant it, but his words hurt Roll, even though he did not notice it. As he leaned back again and kept looking upwards, the female Navi looked down at the streets, instead of looking up at the sky as well. From the beginning, it was clear that Roll had a more mature mind than Rockman who constantly kept talking about Netto's unfinished homework, one after another; battles with the strongest evil Navis, and so forth. The only other two Navis that kept the same mature mind as her were Glide and Blues, but since Roll never spoke too much with neither of them, she wouldn't know about that._

"_.. I'm sorry for asking such a strange question all of a sudden.." Roll said quietly, still looking downwards and away from him._

"_Eh? Why are you apologizing, Roll-Chan?" Rockman asked, puzzled. "Well, the stars __**are**__ fake, since they were made like the Real World's stars. Not like us. We're real, if that's what you mean." The blue Navi said with one of his smiles._

"_.. Alright. Thanks.." Roll looked at Rockman with a half-hopeful expression, but then she looked upwards to the stars again, still keeping her closed fists over her tights._

_Rockman did nothing else but look at her as she gazed to the sky. He didn't understand why she had asked such a thing, but he decided to not say anything else and just gaze at Roll, instead of the stars, for just a little longer._

"I was so stupid..! Why didn't I realize it before..?!" Rockman asked himself, slightly tackling the steering wheel with the side of his right hand, frowning at himself heavily. Before the only good thing in his life began crashing down, Rockman began to feel something funny in his heart when he was around Roll, and every time he saw her smile, it made his heart skip a beat. At that time, he thought he might be getting ill, but he had caught no virus in his systems. After several check-ups, Rockman finally began wondering about his own emotions, but paid little attention to it, since he was too busy with his missions with Netto.

Indeed, before he realized about it, Rockman was completely clueless to Roll's feelings, even when she was so obvious about them. He just couldn't see them. And when he finally realized about them.. it was too late. When he finally realized what he felt about her, were only a few days before Roll 'died', but Rockman felt too hesitating to express his feelings. He blamed himself constantly afterwards. He felt hesitating after a few weeks? Roll felt hesitating after 5 years. She was so hesitating that her systems failed on her. Rockman felt like punching himself for not realizing about her any sooner. His father explained to him that Roll had a breakdown in her systems due to her closed up feelings. The news came as a total shock to the blue Navi. Not to Meiru, because the Net Op was fully aware of the pink Navi's feelings towards Rockman, but since Roll had made her promise not to tell anything to anyone; Meiru was forced to remain quiet. In the beginning, he could tell that Roll's joyful expression was gradually changing to a much different one, but he thought that she was just tired. After a while, she began having problems with her intern systems; Memory, Mobility Performance, and a few others, but still, Rockman thought she might have just caught a bug, and never considered that the cause for her 'tiredness' was actually her heart. One day, when he finally decided to tell Roll how he felt, was the day when she collapsed right in front of him, while the two were hanging out in Net City. Not knowing what to do, Rockman automatically panicked and rushed the pink Navi to Sci Labs. As she was taken to his father's surveillance, the 'doctor' was able to tell right away what was wrong with the female Navi just after a few quick Scans.

It was when Rockman finally realized that the unreturned emotions the pink Navi kept locked in her heart were too great for her to bear. It was when he discovered that she loved him, and that she had been closing up her emotions, something a Navi was not built to hold. It was when he realized that it was **his** fault that Roll was sick like that. That it was his fault that Roll had begun changing. That it was his fault.. that Roll's self was lost.

".. It's my fault.. all mine.. Roll-Chan.." Rockman said to himself lowly, lowering his head for a moment. As he hid his eyes, the next audible sound was a sob. No longer than a second, his Net Vehicle began beeping. Rockman quickly looked upwards, and he noticed that there was a wall right in front of him. His Navi reflexes made him hit the break and he was able to stop just before the said wall. He drove a little bit backwards, just to keep a safe distance from his target.

"_**Your destination to area 4 for has been reached. There are no signs of hostility in the nearby perimeter."**_ A voice in the F1's radio was heard. It was a female computer voice.

Rockman shrugged. He hated that voice. Every time he was stressed out, the damn voice was always calm and quiet. He wanted to put it out, but only kept it because Roll thought it was funny to have a talking GPS in a race car. He sighed and then looked to the outside again. It was another warehouse, like the one in the first location, but the difference between the two was that this one seemed to be larger. The large front door was closed with a rusty lock and there were several broken windows. Rockman took a deep breath, and then opened the F1's door. As soon as he got out, a blow of wind came to him and Rockman placed his hand over the car's door, closing it calmly.

"_**Attention. Attention. Virus activity was found in the nearby area. Prepare for battle, if necessary."**_ The voice in the F1's radio said.

".. Great." Rockman said, rolling his eyes. It was exactly what he wanted, a little distraction to keep his head off Roll, even if for just a little while. _"I take the viruses are inside the warehouse."_ He thought for himself, downloading his standard Buster. A short load sound was heard, meaning the weapon was ready to fire.

The blue Navi stealthily walked to the warehouse's front door and was able to get the lock off with just a tight pull. Rockman peered through the front doors opening and in the inside, he saw a swirl of viruses inside, but strangely enough, they were quiet, like they were frozen, just there was no ice in the area. Rockman pushed the heavy doors open and saw all the viruses inside. He wondered what they could be doing there, and standing still, no less. He took a step inside and noticed that there was no one around. He put up the inter-communicator to talk with Blues.

"Blues? Rockman here." He said. "I've found a large group of viruses, but they're standing still, like they were frozen." He explained.

"_**.. That's strange."**_ The crimson Navi commented, on the other side. _**"I've also found a few groups of viruses like that on my first location. It was easier to delete them like that. They put up no fight." **_Blues explained.

"I see. Then, I'll delete these as quick as possible and then move on." Rockman said, closing the call.

In the outside, up in a tree's branch, a dark figure stood quietly, with another one crouching just by its side. With the sound of a finger snap, the crouching Navi made an evil smile, which went from one hearing sensor to the other. It had a bright red eye visible, for the other one was covered with his hair. The Navi made a small jump, ending up crouching in the lower branch. As he moved, all the viruses inside the warehouse gradually began moving. Rockman took a step back, blinking twice at the scene before him. He wasn't expecting the viruses to begin moving like that. As he stood in attack-mode, all the bugs began swarming around him with groans and hisses.

"Okay.. I have no idea how you guys begun moving again, but I'm not letting this one pass by." Rockman said to the group before him as he aimed his Buster.

".. Let's see how you handle these ones.. Rockman.." the standing figure said, calmly. He snapped his fingers again and the viruses in the warehouse charged at Rockman.

**000000000000**

"Well, Roll's systems seem to be working properly for now." Yuuichiro, Netto's father, said as he looked over the monitors showing Roll's main systems.

"Ah, that's good." Meiru sighed in relief. "How long do the exams will last?" the redhead asked.

"About one more hour." The adult replied. "Not to worry, though. Most of them are just routine tests." He explained with his smile.

"Alright. Thank you." Meiru bowed her head and looked away with a tired expression.

"Meiru."

"Ah, yes?" the girl turned her head to the adult.

"Have you been sleeping properly?" Yuuichiro asked. "You seem tired."

"Ah, um, yes, yes." Meiru fumbled in her answer. "Well, Roll sometimes wakes me up in the middle of the night saying she had nightmares, but it's alright, I guess." She explained.

"Nightmares, you say?" the doctor made his thinking pose. "I'll have to check up on that part as well, then. How often has Roll been having nightmares, Meiru?"

"Um.. For about one week, I'd say." Meiru replied.

"Hm.." Netto's father resumed to another monitor and left Meiru looking somewhat confused.

Meiru sighed lowly. When would this end? It was always Roll, Roll, Roll. Meiru hadn't been sleeping properly for at least a week, and nobody worried about her. She knew that it was important to keep two eyes on Roll for now, because her systems were still fragile and no one knew if one could fail. Meiru was well aware of that, but still.. she was alone. She still had no one to talk to, and it began to bother her. She frowned slightly to her thoughts. She was being selfish with no reason. But still.. she did want someone to talk to. She had no one around her. Meiru sighed lowly again and turned away. While the rest of tests were being made on Roll, the redhead decided to wait in another room. She also had to be away, even if for just an hour. She took a thick book out of her pink school bag and continued reading where she had stopped before. The room where she currently was in was simple, having only two rows of chairs with a large coffee table in between. Over the coffee table were several old magazines about Navis and Internet, among other subjects, but Meiru paid no attention to them. She preferred her book. The only taken chair in the room was Meiru's. All the others were empty, hence the silence. Meiru didn't really mind it. At home, Roll made such a fuss with everything that Meiru had almost forgot what it was that she was doing. At school, the class constantly yelled in every direction and at piano classes, there was the sole sound of the pianos, obviously. Even when she was sleeping, or trying to sleep, Roll would wake her up and say she had a nightmare. Meiru almost forgot what silence was like, but lucky for her that the room was void of people; she would be able to ease her mind for a little while. As she calmly read her thick book, she didn't notice the door opening and someone getting inside.

**000000000000**

**AN: Prepare yourselves. Hold on to your seats and make sure you have everything you need with you as well, because the real action begins in the next chapter. Leave a review, people!**

**- Mizu no Hana =3**


	10. Chapter 9: Measuring the Enemy

**AN: Just a small note. The song that Roll sings in this chapter is from Fairy Tail's Episode 12, when Lyra sings. It's a very short song, but I loved to hear it. I would prefer to write it down in the romanji version, but I don't have it. Also, the lines in italic in Roll's dream are just an effect that I wanted to put, to emphasize her words. It's not thoughts, it's all spoken words. Enjoy the chapter.**

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 9 – Measuring the Enemy**

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

During his break from monitoring Roll's systems, Yuuichiro, Netto's father, decided to grab one of his books about Navis and keep off from where he had left it before. He put the bookmarker next to his filled coffee mug, and then calmly turned the page, where something caught his attention right away. It was a paragraph about Memory Files, in the Memory section of the book. The doctor leaned in to the book, as if to read better.

"Hmm.." he made the thinking expression that only he can do and kept reading closely. He held the book with his left hand and held his chin with his right hand.

It was written in the book that if a Navi held no will to remember his, or her, past memories, then the Navi would never be able to retrieve those memories. Even if the Navi would come to remember later on, his/her Memory System would not acknowledge the same memories again. Then, if such thing were to happen, the Memory System would begin deleting the refused memories automatically after a determinate amount of time. The adult blinked once in wonder and then, looked at Roll inside a Scan Sphere, where the two thick metal circles rounded her to check for any bugs and system errors. The female Navi seemed calm and serene, like nothing was wrong. The adult frowned slightly, not due to anger, but to worry.

".. I wonder if you'll have the will to remember everything again.." he said calmly, returning to his book, where he found something else he was looking for. _".. Like I thought.. _He_ should be careful as well.."_ he said to himself, as he read.

**0000000**

"Sakurai?" a voice asked, with clear surprise.

Meiru shrank her shoulders up a little and then turned herself to see who was calling her. When she saw who it was, she automatically softened, because it was someone she knew. Not exactly whom she would want to talk with, but still, someone she was familiar with.

"Enzan?" Meiru blinked once at the sight of the other teenager.

"Came to bring Roll to more exams again?" the dual haired boy asked with his weak smile.

"Ah, yeah.." Meiru looked to the side with a different expression. Enzan almost missed it, but he did saw it. It was an expression that contained both sadness and something else, which he could not tell clearly.

"Is.. everything alright, Sakurai?" Enzan asked, somewhat reluctant. He wasn't too sure if he should be meddling into the redhead's personal issues, since they didn't knew each other well enough and all, but his hidden natural worry for the others made him ask.

"Hm. Yes. Everything's fine." Meiru quickly turned herself towards Enzan and nodded her face, up and down twice, with her smile.

Enzan knew right away that she was lying. He had enough training to be able to tell when someone wasn't telling the truth. He clearly knew, but didn't say anything, thinking she might not want to talk about it, or might not want him to 'butt in', as they would say. He looked at her while she smiled, and he couldn't help his reflex to pull up his weak smile again.

"Alright. If you say so.." he, unaware of it, almost gave his worry in, with his answer. He moved and sat down in the chair that was crossing her own, meaning, he was on the other side of the coffee table, right in front of her. He also had a book with him, a thick one as well. He calmly placed his red bookmarker over the table and opened it.

"Ah?" Meiru understood, though. She knew that he could tell that she had lied. But she didn't want him to worry about her, him or anyone else. There were so many other things much, much more important than her little depression. Unaware of it, she sighed lowly, which didn't go unnoticed for Enzan, but he did not react towards it. While Meiru was musing over her issues, her sad expression seemed to return to her face. She had placed her book over her tights and didn't seem to be reading it. She looked like she was dozing off. Enzan did notice this time around, because she sighed in a slightly louder tone.

"So, what are you currently reading, Sakurai?" Enzan asked, while looking at his book.

"Ah, um," Meiru stuttered as she held up her book's cover to Enzan. "It's called _Codex 362_. I began reading it about a week ago. It seems nice so far." She said with her smile.

"Ou, I know the book. I read it once." Enzan commented, turning the page of his book. "Trust me; that is one good reading."

"Ah, nice." Meiru smiled again, before the two dived into their books.

As the two teenagers began reading again, the silence became almost heavenly to Meiru, while it remained unchanged to Enzan, since he was used to the silence. She was glad she was able to rest her sanity for a little while. She was reading so focused that she did not notice the other boy gazing at her from eye-shot. The expression he held was his neutral one, but there was another touch to it. There was also a hint of slight worry in him. Well, anyone would worry if the other person looked as gloomy as if she were grieving for a lost cat. Enzan decided to not try to bother Meiru, knowing she probably wanted to be left alone, so he lowered his gaze back to his book. A few moments after, as a natural reflex she always had, Meiru pulled her head upwards to look around, something she did very often. She noticed that Enzan seemed to be as focused on his book as she was, well, or tried to be. Meiru was really trying to read her book, but she couldn't. The only thing she wanted was to talk her mind out. Speak to someone rationally and express what she was feeling. She thought that Enzan would much likely prefer to read his book than listen to her girly complaints about loneliness, so, Meiru lowered her head back to her book. The only thing that followed them was the silence of unspoken words. The only sound that was heard was the pages turning.

**0000000**

"Damn it, there's just no end to these guys!" Rockman said, as he deleted what seemed to be the 100th virus. He almost tripped when an electrified Mettaur sat behind him, but Rockman quickly deleted it. "Agh, damn you all!" he said, getting angry.

The warehouse was large, but he never thought that so many viruses could be so packed up inside there. Truth be told, he was getting rather tired, but there was no way he could stop now, or else it was the end for him. Plus, it didn't seem like the viruses were going to stop charging at him anytime soon. In the outside, the two forms watched the blue Navi from the tree.

"Ne, ne.. He's getting tired already.." the crouching Navi said, with an evil smirk, from one hearing sensor to the other.

".. Looks like the big hot shot Rockman is not able to deal with a few amounts of viruses at the same time." The other one spoke.

"Ne, ne, Terraman, can I delete him now?" the crouching Navi asked.

"No, Kald. Not quite yet." 'Terraman' said. "Our leader wants him alive, as for the other Navi as well." He explained.

"But why?" 'Kald' asked, somewhat depressed.

"He wants to delete Rockman himself. And in the worst possible way, I must say." Terraman explained, crossing his arms.

"Then, why doesn't he go after him himself?" Kald asked.

"I guess you could say he's.. recovering from his stay in the Net Recycle area. His powers aren't at the fullest yet, so he must remain hiding for now." Terraman explained.

"Eh.. I don't understand any of it.." Kald looked bored. ".. I want to delete something.." he said, looking dazed.

While Kald looked around for something to delete, Terraman looked at Rockman from a far. He wasn't really impressed with the blue Navi's strength, but he knew that he wasn't even trying. Terraman knew that Rockman was much, much stronger than that, as he had seen before in his battle with the Leader. He could tell that Rockman was slow on his step and reflexes, probably the reason why he was already with several cuts and bruises all over him. He was perfectly aware that Rockman had much more powerful Battle-Chips available to use, even in Net City, but he chose to use his standard Buster against the horde of viruses. He could tell that he wasn't 100% focused on the battle--more like 45%--; therefore, Rockman could have only one thing on his mind.

".. Love will lead you to emotions, and emotions will lead you to distractions, which consequently will make you weak. You must be aware of that when you go out for a battle. You must be void of all feeling if you want to battle properly.." Terraman said lowly, looking at Rockman with his empty expression. _"How could anyone say this low excuse of a Navi is the great Rockman? How pathetic. Like this, he won't even be able to reach the gates."_ He said to himself, with a scowl.

**0000000**

While Roll was still inside the Scan Sphere, she had drifted into a sleep mode. In her dream, she was in a flower field, filled with several colors, purple flowers, yellow flowers, pink flowers and white flowers, extending the view until she could see no more. As Roll awed to the sight before her with wide eyes, someone stood up behind her.

"Hello, Roll-Chan." A figure said gently. "We finally meet again.." he said with a deep voice.

"Ah, it's you again, Sir." Roll said, holding her hands behind her back with a smile.

The pink Navi turned herself around and saw him again. He was wearing a white chemise and pants, and it made Roll think that he looked like an angel of some story she had read before. He had his mask covering his face again, but strangely, it seemed that he was smiling somehow. He had two spikes of black hair in each side of his head, and he wasn't wearing a helmet either. Over his forehead there were shorter bangs of hair that flew from side to side with the wind. Roll then noticed that she also was wearing a white dress, knees-length, with no loops to cover her shoulders. The dress was slightly tight against her torso, but over her waist, it enlarged. There was a bow on the left side of her chest, all white. She wondered why she wasn't wearing her pink plug-suit, like usual, but said nothing, thinking for herself that her dress was pretty. She didn't notice, but her helmet was also white, along with the bow in the lower part of her hair piece.

"Don't call me Sir, Roll-Chan. You know me." The white figure chuckled, catching the female Navi's attention easily. He kept his white mask on, that didn't seem like it wasn't going to fall too easily.

"I do?" Roll asked. "But, I don't remember you, Sir." She commented.

"Ahah." The male Navi let out a gentle laugh, which made Roll blink a few times. "It's okay to not remember me for now, Roll-Chan." He said, with a solemn voice. "But note this.. if you don't remember everything soon, it will be too late.."

"Ah? Too late? What do you mean?" Roll asked as she leaned forward, curious.

"Will you sing for me?" the figure suddenly requested. "Like you used to?" it wasn't visible, but it was clear that he was smiling.

"Sing?" Roll asked, blushing slightly. "Now?" she fidgeted with her hands and waved her body from side to side, like an embarrassed child.

"Yes. Will you?" the figure requested again, taking a few steps closer to her. She did not notice, but he kept his hands on his pockets at all the time.

Still fidgeting with her hands, Roll looked at the figure with a small blush. She had recalled a few days before that she used to sing. What she thought weird was that she knew that she used to sing with someone that used to be with her always, but she could not tell who it was. In her memory, the other Navi's face was always turned so that he wouldn't be facing her. She wondered about who it was, but ended up forgetting about it completely when she looked at the figure that stood before her. He was just a step away from her and Roll noticed that he had about the same height as she did, being probably a little bit taller than her. Plus, when had he moved so close to her? Roll looked at his mask and noticed that it was very simple in design. It had only two yellow colored strings, one above his left eye and another below his right eye. As she looked at him, Roll wondered what color his eyes really were. She blinked once sheepishly and lowered her gaze, until she was looking at her feet. The fact that she was also wearing white ballet shoes didn't seem to bother the female Navi as she stood still. It was like she was dazed or something. Just like a reflex, and without her full awareness, Roll shifted her head upwards the male figure. She then closed her eyes and parted her lips slightly. Then, softly hummed words began to exit her lips...

"_... Born words.. dying words... words, which live on inside of you.."_

The figure seemed at ease as he heard the female Navi. His shoulders seemed to relax slightly at the sound of her vocal cords. Back in Sci Labs, Netto's father was reading his book, until something caught his attention.

"_Time remains, turning itself into courage..."_

"Eh?" the doctor blinked, as Roll's soft voice echoed in the room. "What.. is this sound?" it took him a second, maybe two, before he realized that the one that was singing was Roll. He quickly set the monitor to record the images and sound.

"_Come, contemplate... You'll be even stronger..."_

The doctor watched as she sang, yet, while still sleeping. He did not understand. When Navis slept, they did not dream, or talk. And yet, this one female Navi was singing. Singing implies talking, and talking implies dreaming. He was sure that one would never sing in the darkness, so it was clear that Roll was dreaming in her sleep.

"_It's time to find yourself... and believe in the words that were told you..."_

Back to Roll's dream, the female Navi resumed her singing and then looked towards the male figure with a blush on her cheeks, something to which she was unaware of.

"Very well, Roll-Chan." The male figure pulled his hands out of his pockets and clapped a few times softly. "I see you still got it." He chuckled again.

"Aah.. Thank you.." Roll's blush deepened at his warm words. She began fidgeting with her fingers again, still feeling embarrassed. She looked at his hands and noticed something. "Sir, your hands..!" she said, holding hers over her mouth, as if she had said something wrong.

"Oh, these.." the figure said, looking at his hands, to which he swiftly replaced them over his pockets. "Do not worry about it, Roll-Chan." He smiled at her, even though his face was not visible.

"But..." Roll began with a pout in each cheek.

Suddenly, the figure looked to his left lower side, and his shoulders suddenly tightened again. He then looked back at Roll, who now held a worried expression. It seemed like his expression softened when he gazed at her again, but since he kept his mask, it would not be seen.

"Well, this has been a wonderful meet, but I must take my leave now." He said, beginning to step away from Roll.

"B-But..!" she tried to speak, but he stopped her.

"Don't, Roll-Chan. You have to wake up now." He said, turning away and taking a few steps. Before he disappeared, he only said one thing else. "It is certain that we'll see each other again. Don't worry. And don't wander off too far. I'll be back. I promise."


	11. Fight, Rockman! Terraman's Strike!

**AN: I didn't expect to actually get to 10 chapters. I really didn't. I love you guys who read my story. ^___^ I'm sorry about all the fillers, though. I'm trying to get the story well written and stuff, so I end up writing more than needed sometimes. This chapter gives a hint on who's the 'Leader' with a grudge against Rockman, if you can find it. xD Please enjoy.**

**Translation notes: 'Nani' = 'What' . 'Hikari hakase' = 'Professor/doctor Hikari'**

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 10 –**** Fight, Rockman! Terraman's Strike!**

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

"Ah? What is this now?" Hikari Yuuichiro asked, watching one of his monitors. "Hm.." he mumbled to himself. He placed his book's bookmarker where he was reading and then placed the book away, now fully focusing on the several monitors before his eyes. As he madly pounded the computer's keyboards like he usually does, the doctor noticed something else. "Ara.. This as well?" he asked to the air as he looked at one of Sci Labs' main frames.

Apparently, the Labs were being hacked by some sort of rogue virus. He knew he had to be quick, but things like these happened often enough, so everyone knew how to deal with this. The only thing big enough to worry about is that if they succeed to reach the network where the Navis are left, in order to rest. If they do, then the recovering Navis could be in trouble. It had happened once when Rockman was recovering. Sci Labs had been attacked and the systems failed, therefore, leaving Rockman locked inside the computers of a temporarily shut down Sci Labs, only hours later he was able to return to the PET and defeat the rogue Darkloid. Yuuichiro didn't know how Roll's systems would react if she were to be locked down, but he did wonder about it. A little case of claustrophobia, maybe? A slight stroke of fear of the sudden darkness? A rushed peak in her internal systems due to the fear of being locked down? He preferred to play safe and transfer Roll into her respective pink PET. Her scans weren't fully finished yet, but he could take care of that later. He sent a few control Navis into the areas that were being hacked and while there was still light, he began making a few calls.

**0000000**

The lights flickered for a second, and Enzan automatically shot his head up and stared at the light bulbs for a moment. Something was wrong, he could tell already. He quickly grabbed the bookmarker the closer to him and closed his book. He got up and noticed that Meiru was still reading hers. He thought that her focus to read was somewhat astonishing. As he looked at the red head, another thought crossed his mind. It seemed to him that her hair appeared to be soft to the touch, but he quickly pushed the strange thinking out of his mind. He didn't say anything about it as he brought himself as few steps closer to Meiru.

"Sakurai." He said in his neutral tone of voice.

"Hm? Yes, Enzan?" she only had the time to shift her head upwards and gaze at Enzan for a second.

The lights flickered again, and the room's light went off for a second, then coming back up for only a short moment. During that short moment, before the lights went out again, Enzan saw it. He saw something he wasn't expecting, which was Meiru's terrified expression. He understood right away that she was afraid of the dark, something that seemed to happen with almost every single girl in that town.

"Sakurai, are you alright?" he asked, still with a neutral stance.

Meiru didn't reply. Only silence came after his words.

"Sakurai, answer me." He said, waving his hand forward, in a try to find the girl in the pitch black room. His eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness yet.

Meiru still didn't answer.

Then, he touched something. He couldn't see what it was, but he could only tell that it was soft, like silk, or something among those lines. He somewhat froze as he realized what it was. His brain took a second to register that it was her hair that his fingertips were grazing. Before he could even say anything else, he heard a shriek, coming from Meiru. He barely had the time to react when she took a hold of his left forearm. He gasped lowly even when she pressed her forehead against it. He didn't budge for a moment. He knew she was afraid and that she wouldn't do the same if the lights were on. Typical fearful reaction. He heard her halted breaths and felt her grip falter as well. Did she faint? When he was going to say something to her, the lights flickered back on and there, Enzan noticed Meiru's shoulders shivering as she gripped the cloth in his arm as tightly as she could muster. With the lights on, he also noticed that when she had grabbed his forearm, she had, consequently, pulled him a little bit closer to her, which passed unaware by her, but not by him. It took him another second to realize that she was still holding his forearm.

"Sakurai."

"Eh?" the girl pushed her head upwards, and blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes to the light.

"The lights are on again." He stated calmly. "You can give me my arm back, now." he added.

"Ah?" Meiru looked at where she was holding and quickly let go of him. "I-I'm sorry, Enzan. I just.." She began.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." The dual haired boy retracted his hand and placed his both inside his pockets, as usual for his character. "Let's go find Netto's father. He should have an explanation for the power's failure." Enzan said, in his neutral tone.

"R-Right." Meiru said, still slightly trembling.

Enzan said nothing else and proceeded to the door. Meiru grabbed the other bookmarker, being the only one left over the table, placed it where she was reading and then followed him out, placing her book inside her pink bag pack.

**0000000**

".. Last one.." Rockman panted as he looked at the last virus before him. Without the need to say anything else, he launched at it, deleting the bug.

The blue Navi was able to delete all the viruses. Once he saw that there was nothing else coming at him, he dropped to his knees, out of exhaustion. He looked around a few times. There was nobody else there but him. And yet, he sensed that he was being watched. On the outside, Terraman watched while Kald looked for something to delete.

"He knows we're here." Kald said, looking around restlessly.

"Not exactly, but almost, though." Terraman replied with a calm sigh.

Just as the calm Navi finished speaking, the hasty one suddenly jumped to the ground. It seems he had found something. It was an orange butterfly. Kald opened his mouth slightly and blew at the innocent animal. It didn't take more than two seconds before the butterfly stopped moving in the air. Kald pulled up his right hand upwards, showing three large sharp dark grey claws. They were attached to his hand with several bandages and metal bands. With a swift move, the butterfly was torn into several pieces, before it vanished in small data cubes. Kald chuckled for himself while Terraman sighed again.

".. Must you delete every single form of cyber life you find, Kald?" the calm Navi asked.

"I wanted to kill that Navi," Kald mentioned to Rockman. "but you said I couldn't, so I have to find something else to play with.." he began looking around again.

"Well, you will have to wait for another time." Terraman said, closing his eyes.

Kald watched the other Navi as he held his both arms upwards until they were stretched horizontally and his palms pointed upwards. He already knew what was coming next. Terraman slightly opened his eyes and a few words seemed to exit his lips, but they were inaudible. Kald shifted his eyes towards the warehouse, where a few small green herbs began silently growing on the ground below the front doors. No sooner than five seconds, the small, innocent herbs got as tall as the warehouse itself. Inside the warehouse, Rockman linked a net window again.

"Hey, Blues." He said in one breathe.

"_**Rockman?"**_ Blues seemed confused. _**"It would appear that a tornado passed right over you." **_He commented.

"Heh. Well, there were more viruses than I had expected." Rockman said with a low chuckle.

"_**The amount of viruses that I found was great as well, but I was able to deal with it easily enough."**_ The crimson Navi commented, with his deep neutral tone of voice. _**"It seems that you are 'out of shape', as humans would say."**_ He added.

"Heh. Maybe." Rockman sweat dropped at the comic lines. He sighed loudly and kept talking to Blues, until something was caught in the sensors.

"_**Rockman?"**_ Blues called. _**"What's that behind you?"**_ he asked. Since it was a video-conference, one would be able to see behind the other.

"Nani?" Rockman only had the time to turn around and ask, before a thick branch caught his neck.

"_**Rockman? Oi, Rockman!"**_ Blues called out as the call ended in an abrupt way, leaving only a grey static screen before the crimson Navi.

**0000000**

"Well, it seems that everything is working fine for now." Yuuichiro said to himself, logging the monitors online again. The scans on Roll continued and he was about to turn to his book again, when a pair of teenagers bounced in.

"Hikari hakase." Enzan said, taking a few steps forward, while Meiru surveyed Roll. "Why did the lights go off just now?" he asked.

"Well, some of Sci Labs network were being hacked by some kind of rogue virus. I already sent a few Security Navis to check the threat and--"

"_**Enzan-sama!"**_ a voice echoed in Enzan's red PET.

"Ah, Blues?" Enzan seemed somewhat puzzled. "Back already?"

"_**Not quite, but.."**_ Blues breathed once. _**"It's Rockman."**_

As the crimson Navi spoke the blue Navi's name, it seemed that a jolt of electricity had gone through Roll, sending a few readings into one of the adult's monitors. Inside the Scan Sphere, she was as if she were lying down, but as she heard Rockman's name, her right arm shot upwards, as if she was trying to forcedly get up. She was not speaking. In a matter of fact, she was still asleep.

"Ah? What's wrong with Roll?" Meiru asked right away, genuinely worried.

"Oh.." Yuuichiro said, turning to a certain monitor. "It would seem that upon hearing Rockman's name, Roll somewhat reacted." He explained.

"Wha, but what does that mean?" Meiru asked again.

".. The memories of the body?" Enzan asked suddenly, noticing Meiru turning her head towards him. The dual haired boy kept a thinking expression.

"What?" Meiru asked in one breathe.

"It is said that even if the heart forgets, sometimes the body remembers." Yuuichiro said in a solemn voice. "It would seem that this is the case."

".. Wha..?" Meiru didn't understand their words. Heart? Body? She could not understand; it was too much information for her brain to process.

"Even if Roll's previous memories are somewhat sealed inside her subconscious, her other systems still recognize Rockman."

"Could that be possible?" Enzan asked again.

"In theory, yes." The adult replied, turning to the monitors again. "We need to call Netto in to figure out what to do next." He said calmly.

"Yes. Blues, you go to where Rockman is and assist him if there's danger." Enzan said to his PET.

"Understood." The crimson Navi said, logging out.

"Netto's probably at home, sleeping." Meiru said, turning to the door.

"I'll go with you." The dual haired boy said, following the red head.

**0000000**

Back to the warehouse, Rockman had gotten himself up, yet stumbling. He looked around restlessly, hoping to find the enemy that had just almost chocked him to death just a while ago. He held his burning neck with his right hand, while his left, Buster loaded, aimed around. He gasped for air a few times, before he could actually breathe properly, even still quite hastily. Just as he was going to lower his weapon, he heard a chuckle, which made him automatically aim again. He shifted his attack stance towards the main doors. He then noticed that they were wide open, and with several weeds and branches like the one that hit him before. Upon better looking, he noticed two forms in the middle. One was crouching and the other was chuckling. Rockman frowned heavily as the chuckling one began speaking. He had a polite tone, yet evil.

"My, my, one would never say that the great Rockman, the one that defeated Dark Rockman, among many others, could be so easily defeated with just a small swarm of viruses. It appears that something has been on your mind lately. How pathetic." Terraman spoke.

"Who are you?" Rockman asked, aiming his buster at them. "The penalty for attacking an Official Net-Battler, and Net Savior, is jail."

"Oh, please." Terraman chuckled again. "You have no evidence that it was any of us."

"I asked who you are. You better answer me." Rockman spoke harshly.

"You, fragment, have no need to know my name, since you'll be deleted soon." Terraman replied, coldly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rockman asked.

"What, are you unable to understand my words?" Terraman asked, with a slight annoyed tone. It was as if he was asking the blue Navi if he was dumb. "I said that you'll be deleted soon. And by someone you already met. Someone you believe you destroyed." He stated calmly.

"Heh. Like that'll ever happen. I made sure that every Navi I deleted remained deleted." The blue Navi snorted.

"If you say so, but can you be 100% sure of that?" Terraman asked.

"I'm 200% sure." Rockman snorted again.

"My, my, quite the cocky one, this one is." Terraman said, wiping some imaginary dust off his shoulder. "Anyway, our Leader will be collecting something that is.. dear to you soon."

".. Wha..? Dear to me..?" Rockman asked, suspicious.

"Yes. You must watch over what you hold dear the most, or else you will lose it." Terraman explained.

"Who is your leader?" Rockman asked again, somewhat annoyed that he wasn't answering any of his questions.

"Oh, you shall meet him soon as well. I'm sure he will be delighted to say hello once more to you." Terraman said, opening an Exit Point. "But for now, we shall be taking our leave. Let's go Kald."

The crouching Navi jumped over the exit, logging out. As the second stepped in, Rockman intervened, aiming his Buster at him threateningly.

"Hold it right there! Don't move!" the blue Navi said, ready to fire.

"We both know that you barely have strength enough to stand, so do not pretend that you can still fight me in such conditions. You do not pose any challenge at all like this." Terraman spoke, turning around to leave. "Clear your mind of all emotion, then you will be able to fight properly. In the level you currently are, you will never be able to pass our gates, nevertheless defeat out Leader, so, I suggest you start training more, Net Savior."

With that, Terraman logged out and the Exit Point vanished within seconds, leaving a confused Rockman on the area.


	12. Chapter 11: Regrets and Apologies

**AN: I'm very sorry for the huge delay on this chapter, people. I finally began my summer vacations, so I will be able to write a little bit every day, if I don't get too much writer's block, which has already happened. I'm sorry if the ending of the chapter seems rushed or something. I'm already working on the next chapter, so just hold on a little bit more. I intend in showing the Leader soon, I just need to find the proper timing, place, and such. Hang on, you'll find out who he is soon enough, so keep reading, okay?**

**Translation notes: 'Gomen nasai' = 'I'm sorry'.**

****

**Chapter 11 –** **Regrets and Apologies**

****

"I'm so sorry, Rockman!" Netto continuously bowed his head to his net Navi, who was recovering in a Scan Sphere. "Gomen nasai, gomen nasai, gomen nasai!" he repeated.

Netto felt like scum when he realized that he had fallen asleep while reading a comic book, when his Navi, best friend and brother was getting his butt kicked by a new horde of evil Navis. When he saw Meiru and Enzan at his house firstly, he got confused, but as the two teenagers explained the situation to the bandana boy, his eyes got more and more shocked. Now, he stood in Sci Labs bowing to his wounded Navi.

"If you hadn't fallen asleep and assisted your Navi when he needed, none of this would be happening right now." Enzan scowled. "And maybe we would have been able to have caught the Rogue Navis and brought them in for proper questioning."

"I said I was sorry, okay?" Netto repeated, as if pouting.

"Sometimes, you're really the worst, Netto." Meiru said, deeply disappointed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry.." the bandana boy repeated, with his gaze lowered to the ground.

"So, what do we have? Any names or anything?" Yuuichiro asked.

"No. They, -no, he- he was the only one who spoke. He said that someone I had deleted before was back with a grudge on me, and also said that that Navi was going to take what I have most precious from me soon." Rockman explained, wondering what those words meant.

"I see. Anything else?" Netto's father said, making his thinking pose.

"He also said that at my level, I wouldn't be able to fight well and to get rid of all emotion to fight correctly." The blue Navi added.

"I see. It seems that we have a new enemy to deal with." Yuuichiro commented, turning to his monitors. "Rockman, I will give you an anesthesia to put you asleep. Like this, you will be able to restore your energies more quickly." The doctor added.

"Alright, Papa." Rockman closed his eyes and waited.

"And maybe that power failure had something to do with it as well." Enzan commented.

"What? There was a power failure?" Netto suddenly asked, looking at the two other teens.

"Was Roll-Chan injured?" Rockman asked, opening his eyes, only to close them again and falling in a deep sleep, due to the anesthesia.

"I believe that all these things that have been happening lately are all connected." Yuuichiro commented, as he watched his monitors.

"But what could it mean?" Enzan asked.

"Maybe that they are just testing us, to see our strength, like they did to Rockman, and to see how easy they can hack us, like they did to Sci Labs." The hakase explained.

"Is it possible?" Meiru asked.

"In theory, yes." The adult scratched the back of his head. "Since there is no proof of anything, we cannot start making assumptions. Plus, in our current situation, we cannot go around and fight everything we see." He added, turning to the three teenagers.

"I just wonder when will all of this end.." Meiru commented, looking at Roll. Indeed, it had been stressful for everyone, especially herself. Meiru wasn't able to have a peaceful day, or afternoon even, ever since Roll woke up again after her repairs.

"Don't worry, Meiru!" Netto said, giving her a thumbs-up sign, clearly not understanding the redhead's words. "I'm sure we'll get around this and everything will be alright! Just like always!" he smiled to her, but she turned her head away from him, but he said nothing to it.

Since most of people were turning their attentions towards something else; some at Roll, Netto clearly at Rockman, Enzan stepped closer to Meiru and placed his left hand over her right shoulder discreetly. As the girl looked at him, he only gave her his softened expression, something she was not expecting at all.

"Don't worry." He said calmly. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine." He said.

".. Thank you, Enzan." Meiru understood right away that he was talking about Roll, and not everything else around them, which made her feel happy about it.

Of course, Rockman being attacked was bad, and Sci Labs being hacked out of nowhere was quite serious as well, she was well aware of that, but for her, her own Navi was more important. And seeing that she still hadn't wakened up, she was getting her set of worries again. As she noticed that Enzan wasn't holding her shoulder anymore, Meiru's reflection was to look towards him, discreetly as well. She noticed that the dual haired boy had already hid his hands over his pockets and a small thought brushed by her mind. Why did he always keep his hands on his pockets? It wasn't that cold, but still, it could be something he himself was not aware of, like something you do with your face all the time, but you never realize it. Meiru wondered about it for a moment, but ended up deciding that this was something with no further interest to think about and looked back towards Roll. As she did so, Meiru sighed loudly enough for the other boy listen, yet, she was not aware of it. As the redhead looked at her pink Navi, she did not notice another gaze towards her. Enzan merely peered at her from the corner of his eyes. He was somewhat worried about the girl's deep sadness, since being secretly worried about the others was something natural for him. But since they didn't know each other, he wasn't going to talk with her about her personal problems. From Enzan's point of view, he did wonder how Meiru could hang on to Netto all the time. She seemed like an intelligent person to him, but she still hung around the loud bandana boy, which was something he could not understand well. Why would someone intelligent walk besides a loud, idiot, not so smart, person? As he mused over these issues, he heard someone else speaking.

"Well, I have to get going now." Meiru spoke calmly, turning to leave. "I'll be coming later to pick up Roll, Mr. Hikari."

"Alright. I'll make sure she's ready to go when you arrive." Yuuichiro waved at her with his smile.

"Thank you." Meiru bowed her head and began walking.

Enzan was calmly gazing at the saddened girl leave, when the other came up to her saying that he'd go with her and even drink tea with her. He noticed Meiru griping her hands behind her back, out of Netto's eye sight. He then realized that she wanted to be left alone, but she had the other one after her constantly. He then noticed Meiru looking backwards, towards him. It took him a second to process that she had whispered something to him, but he was not able to listen to her.

"_.. What did she say?"_ he asked himself with his hands till on his pockets as the other two left the room.

**0000000**

".. So, he's gone soft?" the dark figure sat in his throne holding his chin with his left hand. "Is he that weak now?" he asked with a rather bored tone of voice.

"Yes, Dark-sama." Terraman kneeled next to Kald. "I used the lowest ranked earth techniques I have, but he was already fatigued after the virus swarm." The calm Navi explained.

"Hm.." Dark mused over the events for a moment.

".. Where's the fun in making him suffer if he's so weak?" Kald suddenly asked. "I could just delete him with my claws." He commented, looking at his held weapons.

".. Know your place, Kald." Terraman said. "That is not our mission." He added, still bowing his head.

"Rockman is weak because his mind is being distracted by something. And I know exactly what it is." Dark spoke, with a smirk. "When I'll take from him what he cherishes the most, he'll wake up for sure. Then, he will be able to battle properly. You'll see."

"When shall we begin with the operation, then?" a deep voice asked from behind them.

"Ah, Sol, good, you're back." Dark seemed pleased. "Did you get what I asked for?" he suddenly frowned slightly, but still smirked.

"Of course, Dark-sama." Sol kneeled next to Terraman and showed his open palm. There was a blank chip. It seemed like a regular everyday chip, but since it was in the hands of evil Navis, it wasn't an innocent chip. "If I may say, it was rather easy to find." He commented. "I just had to hack into Sci Labs and get the files. Hacking was the easy part. I only needed to leave low ranked viruses eating the outside programs, and then the path was clear for me. I cut off the power and headed straight to the target." He explained.

"Perfect." Dark seemed pleased again.

The dark figure got itself up and placed his right hand over his Navi Symbol. No sooner than that, a small flash of light covered his hand lines. When he pulled it back horizontally, something was floating above his palm. It was a small Data Cube. It was purple with even smaller red dots. The dark figure brought it upwards, as if to look at it better. The next visible thing was his big red right eye and an edge of a purple helmet. His smirk was not visible, but it was certain that he was smirking with malice. Sol threw the stolen item at Dark, who immediately caught and connected it with the Blank chip. Usually you'd be able to buy these types of Chips on regular stores, but this one was a very special one. It was a leftover prototype that can change a Navi's data entirely. Dark was aware that the Sci Labs' scientist had left it to rot, because it had been a failure on their researches, but that's what they thought. It didn't work well with regular Navis, but with Custom Navis.. It sure worked well. He was aware that they didn't bother to test it on superior Navis in fear of the consequences, but Dark knew exactly what was going to happen in the next events.

"You know what to do next, Sol." Dark said, sitting back on his throne and putting the Blank Chip away.

"Yes, Dark-sama." The other Navi bowed his head and logged-out.

"What should we do now?" Terraman asked when everything was calm again.

"Well..." Dark began, still holding the same smirk on his lips.

**0000000**

"_That Netto really is the worst.."_ Enzan thought for himself as he sat on his rather large desk.

Enzan was back in his company and had begun working on his own vice-president tasks, which were mostly paper signing and checking. He felt bored most of the time, because he finally began to realize that it was not fun at all. Enzan was turning 16, but with his harsh childhood, he was forced to grow up, not really having any type of fun. No going out with friends, because he had to stay home and watch over the company while his father was on one of his many, many business trips. No girlfriends allowed, because they are only leeches who are after his money. Always be the best at Net-Battling, because it will make other people respect you. Never show any emotion, because it will make you seem weak to your enemy. That was what his father told him over the years, and Enzan never dared to question those teachings. But then, he met the group. Netto, always bashful and cheery, same for his Navi with a great sense of justice and loyalty, just like his own Navi, Blues. That short forehead girl, which happened to also be his company's rival, Yaito, who seemed to have some obsessive compulsive with strawberry juice. He never spoke too much with Dekao, or Tohru, but they seemed like good people as well. Before, he'd not even think about hanging out with them, but now, the idea didn't seem too bad at all. Wait, someone's missing. Ah, the red haired girl with the constant heart head pin. He honestly thought that her skirt was a little too short for a 15 year old girl, but he wasn't going to complain out loud about the girl's choice of clothes. Anyways, while he was checking several left out papers of his company, Enzan overheard his Navi's conversation.

"_**Guess what~?"**_ Medi's voice could be heard from the other edge of the video-conference.

"Hm? What is it, Medi-chan?" Blues asked with his weak smile. He sounded genuinely content of being able to listen to her.

"_**I'll be coming over soon with Jasmine~!"**_ Medi squealed with a giggle.

"Really?" Blues asked again with a smile. "How soon?" he asked.

"_**Actually, we're already there~." **_Medi squealed again, leaving Blues in a confused state.


	13. Dreaming: Why Can't You Remember Me?

**AN: This is just a small side note: I pair up Blues with Medi because of my sister and her dear one. They always RPed as the said couple, so it got stuck in my head. Don't flame me over this couple, because I will seriously get angry if you offend them. Also, the first lines in italic are no thoughts or memories. I simply put them that way to give a little emphasis to the chapter. Oh my, I can't believe I actually wrote a romance scene. Yay, finally something soft! Enjoy! =3**

**0000000**

**Chapter 12 – Dreaming. Why Can't You Remember Me?**

**0000000**

_Inside a dream, someone spoke. Inside a dream, someone saw something. Inside a dream, someone heard something. Inside a dream, someone lived something. Inside a dream, someone loved another. Inside a dream, someone lost something that was precious to them. Inside a dream, someone lost someone whom they cherished very much. It is said that when one's dream is a foretelling of their future. Most people don't believe it, but some still believe. It is said that in one's dream any answer can be found, for it is in the unconscious that one can find their true self._

"Ugh, my head.." a blue Navi groaned as he held his head and quietly opened his eyes, only to find himself not in Sci Labs, but at the shade of a strange tall, tall tree. ".. What..? Where.. am I?" he asked, looking around with a confused expression.

The Navi took a heavy breathe before he got himself up and took a look around again. If he looked to one side, he would see a forest of tall trees, but their shapes weren't normal. The trees' bodies were curved, like bonsai trees. Yes, that's exactly what the trees were. He looked up and he could see the sun bathing in between the leaves. There was a forest of huge bonsai trees. Most of them had an 'S' shape, and it gave you almost the need to use the trees as seats. The other trees were straight upwards, so it wasn't clear when one tried to see past the forest. He tried to see, but the only thing he saw was trees and more trees. He gave up and turned to the other side. It seemed like an open green field. He spotted a few bunches of white flowers randomly growing on a few spots of the field. He took a few more looks around before he heard something, no, _someone_, calling his name.

_Rockman…_

He looked around, but saw nobody. It made him confused, and he wondered if he was dreaming. Rockman almost recognized the voice, but it was too faint to figure out who was calling for him. If this was a dream, shouldn't he be the one controlling everything? In your dreams, do you control everything around you? He scratched the back of his head, only to feel his hair, instead of his helmet. He blinked and then looked at himself. He gasped as he saw his attire. He was wearing a total white suit with no helmet. He wondered why. It felt so strange. It didn't feel like a dream. It felt real to him. It felt too real to believe. He looked around again, and then, when he wasn't expecting, that voice called him again.

_Rockman…_

He looked around again, but still didn't see anyone. He sighed over it and wondered when this strange dream would end, if it was a dream at all. Netto had a tendency to put him up to these strange simulation programs without his awareness. He sometimes wondered why his younger brother did such silly things to him. There were times when Netto put Rockman up to several battles all at once and he barely won. He shrugged at the thought of getting such a torture again. Then he heard something. It was a giggle. It seemed like someone was around. He turned his head and saw her. _Her_. He wasn't expecting to see her there. Even if it was a dream, he wasn't expecting. The only Navi he wanted to see was standing just a few feet away from him. At first he just blinked twice, and even rubbed his eyes to see if he would wake up, but he didn't. She was really there. He froze for a moment, afraid that if he moved, she would disappear like cherry petals in the wind. But then, something shot inside him. He had to speak. He had to move. He took a step forward and spoke.

"Roll-Chan!" he finally called out and ran towards her.

The figure, upon listening to the calling of her name, turned herself around as if she were dancing. Her silk white dress flew around in sync as she twirled towards him. Her face held a smile as she looked at him approaching.

". . ." She did not say anything, though; she just kept her soft smile as she gazed towards him with her hands behind her back.

"Roll-Chan, it's you!" Rockman said, quickly embracing her in his arms in an almost tight hug. "It's you, isn't it? It's gotta be you." He continued. "You have no idea how much I've missed your real you, Roll-Chan." He said. "You keep acting like a child, but I understand why, I really do, but I can't take it anymore. Why won't you return to your normal self?" he asked, pulling away slightly to look at her.

Rockman noticed that she was still smiling, but did not respond again. It made his expression turn into a sad one to realize that he was still dreaming. He took a last hold on her and stepped back a little. His expression seemed to deepen when the other one still didn't say a word.

". . ." the female took a few steps backwards as well, and tilted her head to the side still with her gentle smile.

"Roll-Chan, why won't you talk to me?" he asked. "Please say something. Anything.." he added with a sad tone of voice.

When she still didn't speak, he looked down to the side as his saddened expression deepened. Why wasn't she talking? He looked at the female Navi again, only to notice her expression change. She still kept her smile, but her face had a strange sad tone. It made him concerned about her, and when he was about to speak again, she was faster.

".. I'm sorry but, I have to go now.." she suddenly said, taking a few more steps backwards.

"Huh? Roll-Chan?" Rockman blinked twice.

"You have to wake up now." She said, before disappearing amongst a draft of cherry petals in the wind.

"What? Wake up?" Rockman asked to the air, confused. "What do you mean..?" he added, as his sad expression returned.

**0000000**

"Wow, Enzan, is it just me or your house has gotten bigger?" a cheery voice asked with a happy tone of voice.

"I wouldn't say that, Jasmine." The dual-haired boy gave a small chuckle. "The house's still the same as always." He explained with a small sweat drop as he led her through the mansion's hall to the staircase.

"Hum, then it must be me who has gotten shorter?" Jasmine giggled as well as she joked.

"Well, I wouldn't agree with that." Enzan chuckled again. "I do think you've gotten slightly taller since the last time we met." He commented casually, looking towards the Chinese girl.

"Whoa, really?" Jasmine asked, cheerful as usual. Upon seeing a nod from Enzan, she turned to her PET. "See, Medi? I told you I've gotten taller!" but she soon noticed that her Navi wasn't in the device anymore. ".. Medi?" the female net op called with a curious tone.

"I take it she's busy now." Enzan dared to chuckle again, taking a hold of his PET as well. He had taken a look at it as well before, and knew right away that his Navi had gotten busy with Medi. He knew so by a sign that Blues had left him on the main screen. It was used only when Medi was with him, so Enzan had already memorized the coded message left by his Navi. It said "_Code Green: Looking for Crimson Angels_". The Net Op did nothing but a small smile as he shifted his attention back to Jasmine once more. "Come on. I'll show you were you'll be sleeping." He said, motioning for the large staircase before him, which led to the upper floor that contained the several bedrooms.

"Aw, I hate long stairs.." Jasmine pouted. "Back in Choina, my house doesn't have any stairs like these. At tops, a small step." She commented.

"Well, the rooms **are** upstairs." Enzan noted. "In the lower floor are the dining and living rooms."

He made a small smile when he saw the other girl growling slightly, but complying. The two went up the stairs, where Enzan showed Jasmine one of the several guestrooms that his house held. He found it amusing when the girl ran around the room, analyzing it. He made a small sweat drop when she gave him a thumbs up sign with a cheery expression.

"Okay, this room will be just fine for us." Jasmine said, placing one of her bags on the floor and walking towards the large window that the room had. She noticed it led to a balcony with a great view.

"Alright, I'm glad you like it." Enzan nodded his head and placed the girl's other bag, much heavier, on the ground, next to the first one. "I'll allow you to settle your things now." He commented with another nod.

As he turned towards the door with an intention to leave, the girl's sudden voice caught his attention.

"Ne, Enzan.." she called.

"Hm?" he shifted his gaze backwards again, as he turned. "Yes?"

"Is it true that Roll hasn't recovered all of her memories yet?" Jasmine asked, placing her right palm over the fresh glass. Her tone of voice was more serious, as was her expression, which could be seen on the window's reflection. Yes, she played around often, like everyone does, but when there were serious matters to deal with, it was like Jasmine changed personality completely.

"Yes, it is true. Is that the reason why you came so suddenly?" Enzan replied with a sigh. He recalled how distressed Meiru was with this situation.

"Yes. Medi was worried about her and I didn't have any choice but to come over. Of course, she also missed Blues quite a lot, so it was also a reason why we came." Jasmine spoke, breaking Enzan from his thoughts. "I do apologize for staying here in your house. I do not want to be a burden in any way." She bowed her head respectfully.

"No, don't worry about it." Enzan said with a somewhat worried tone, to which he noticed Jasmine's gaze upon him. He quickly changed into his usual calm tone. "The hotels in the area are quite expensive, and we've known each other for quite a while, so there is no problem." He explained.

It was true. Due to Blues' and Medi's relationship, Enzan and Jasmine had several opportunities to get acquainted with each other, and ended up becoming friends.

"Thank you, Enzan." Jasmine said with her usual cheery smile. "I'll settle my stuff, then." She said, as her cheery self returned.

Enzan nodded his head and left the room. Once he was outside, he walked towards his study, where he had several papers from his company to work with. He grabbed his PET again and took a small glance at the screen. _"Code Green: Looking for Crimson Angels"._

"At least you can show your emotions.." Enzan said calmly towards the device, before he placed it back on its holster and continued walking.

"I'm so glad you finally came over." Blues spoke with his small smile, in his deep, calm voice. He was lying back over a sofa inside his HomePage and Medi was sitting over his lap, and the two were cuddled up to each other. "I thought you weren't coming to visit me anymore."

"Aw, don't be like that. I told you that I would visit every time I had a chance." Medi giggled, cuddling up closer to her lover. "Anyways, Jasmine and I have pending issues to deal with here so we decided to drop by."

"Issues? Such as?" he asked with a curious tone of voice, playing with a strand of her purple hair.

"Well, Jasmine always likes to look for new plants and flowers for her collection and recipes." Medi explained, tracing the lines of his arm's muscles.

"And you?" he asked again, resting his chin over the female Navi's head.

"Me? I came here to see you of course." The female Navi giggled again and looked up at him.

As she shifted her gaze upwards, his reflection was to lower his face towards her. They approached one another until their lips were merely two inches apart from touching. No words were necessary there. Medi gave him her gentle smile that she only did towards him, while Blues remained calm. He was calm, but she knew what he was feeling. They already knew each other well enough to tell such thing. Medi looked down at the flowers stamped in her white dress with a small blush, to which Blues moved his left hand and placed his palm over her right cheek. The female Navi's blush only seemed deepen as he dragged her gaze back towards him. As they gazed softly at each other again, Medi's heart skipped a beat when Blues gently held up her chin. Then his own lips formed the smallest of smiles, something he only did towards her as well, and he leaned his head down. Medi did not fight her inner feelings and wrapped both her arms around his neck gently, dragging him closer to her in her own way. Blues then moved his left hand lower to hold the small of her back, while his right hand wrapped around her small shoulders. The two Navis exchanged a soft gaze before their lips locked gently on one another. They remained kissing each other gently for what seemed like a second or two, but in reality were really long, long minutes.

".. I have found my Angel.." he stated in his deep voice as they took a small pause.

".. And I found my Crimson Haven.." she replied with a dazed tone of voice.

While he made another small, yet filled with emotion, smile, she giggled, releasing him of all the worries that his mind held up. No longer than five seconds, their lips were touching again; as they let their bottled emotions fill the air with the love and longing that they felt for one another.


	14. Chapter 13: The Calm before the Dawn

**AN: I deeply apologize for not updating this before. School, school and school. I got heavy writer's block, so I basically didn't know what to write, so I'll do my best to update again soon. It should be a crime for how I've taken to update this. I'm sorry. I'm trying to bring up the fights, but I keep writing stuff in between. Please tell me if the story is boring you out. Just a small note, the title probably doesn't make much sense. That's just how bad I was with writer's block.**

**0000000**

**Chapter 13 – The Calm before the Dawn**

**0000000**

"Ah, nice to meet you, Medi-san!" Roll said in a happy tone as she greeted the Medic Navi.

"Don't you remember Medi either, Roll?" Iceman asked, quite confused, among several other Navis. Roll should remember Medi, because they spent so much time together. "You two were, no, are best friends. You used to hang out a lot." He said.

"Ah, um, I-I'm sorry.. I-I can't.. remember you." Roll said with a sad pout as she bowed her head low, as if embarrassed.

"That's fine." Medi said, with a sad smile, as she looked at the childish form her friend was taking. "It's okay not to remember me right now, Roll." She added with a smile. Her sad tone was clear for everyone around them, except for the pink Navi.

"_It's okay to not remember me for now, Roll-Chan."_

Roll blinked twice, as she looked at Medi again. She thought it was strange. This Medi Navi said about the same sentence that that Navi from her dream did. How did she know? Did she know the Navi from her dream? Roll did not ask, but that question remained hanging in her mind for a while. Why did she say something just like that? Roll almost confused herself with so many thoughts, when she recalled that she had forgotten to reply to the new Navi.

"Um, a-alright." The pink Navi barely remembered what they were talking about, but the topic was soon changed.

"I came here to check up on you. Do a few tests, nothing painful, I assure you." Medi explained softly as she brought up some charts with a lot of writing on them.

"Ah, more exams?" Roll asked, with an expression that showed a wince.

"It's just a few, don't worry." Medi smiled. "You don't like exams?"

"No, I don't." Roll shifted her head from side to side. "They put me asleep all the time and I don't like to sleep that much." She explained, fidgeting with her fingertips.

"Hm, I see. Well, with my exams, you don't have to be asleep at all, so don't worry, okay?" Medi smiled again. _This is good_, she thought. Before she changed, Roll didn't like to be asleep that much. She used to say that she was afraid she wouldn't wake up anymore. Medi remembered chuckling at her friend and explaining to her that such thing wouldn't happen. Then again, she didn't expect for her to have a breakdown either... No. She would not start mopping up about the past. Roll was awake and breathing, somehow. At least some parts of herself are returning to her. She picked up one of the charts and took a few notes.

"You're not going to put me asleep?" Roll asked, somewhat curious, as she leaned slightly towards Medi.

"No, I'm not. Don't worry." Medi looked up from the chart and smiled, then realizing that most of the group had already left. She recalled someone saying they had to check something with water, most likely Iceman, and apparently Glide had to pick up more strawberry juice for Yaito. Gutsman hadn't been there to start with, so she didn't know. The only ones remaining were Rockman and Blues. Most likely because they were on duty, but she was sure that both of them were there with second intentions as well. The worry on Rockman's face was much too obvious, even though Roll could not see it, and Blues, well, he was there for her.

"So, what kind of exams are you going to do on me?" Roll asked curious as she sat on a already downloaded stretcher.

"I will make my hand glow green and hover it over you to see if there are any bugs on your systems or stuff like that." Medi tried to make it as simple as possible and explained her scanning ability. "I am able to see bugs that some machines can't. I'm sure that Sci Labs has the best of the best, but you can't take everything for granted." She said, putting the chart on the left side of the pink Navi.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Roll beamed. "I wish I could do that." She fidgeted with her fingertips again.

"Well, you used to be able to do it too."

"Really?" utter happiness filled Roll's face.

"Yes. Before your.. accident, you had the same ability." Medi said, and before Roll could say anything else, she spoke again. "Now, close your eyes for me, please, and keep your hands on each of your sides."

The pink Navi did as told and took a breath after closing her lids and relaxing her arms. About three seconds after she did, Rockman took a few steps closer, his worry deepening. Medi realized that it must be hard to not be able to show your emotions to the one you love most. She noticed that Blues remained where he was, leaned against a wall, also close by. Medi's expression almost turned into a grimace, but she kept herself together. Her hand began to glow a warm green light. She brought it close to herself and blew gently at it. The glow seemed to get stronger, but it was just for show. Blowing on her glowing hand is something Medi always did before she began a scan. Clearing her mind, she placed her hand over Roll's head. She noticed how the pink Navi relaxed even more to the warmth as Medi began her scanning. For a moment she found nothing wrong with Roll's systems, but as the glow brushed by her chest, it became red. A shiny red that only marked trouble. Medi looked at Roll, but the pink Navi was still relaxed. Okay, she felt no pain, that was good, but there was something wrong. When the green glow became red, it meant that there was a bug of some sort on the Navi being inspected. Medi got worried right away, but tried to remain calm as she continued her scanning. She was not surprised that her ability only showed bug on the heart area. Most of her sensitive systems were placed there.

".. Is everything alright with me?" Roll asked, snapping Medi out of her thoughts. She opened her left eye slightly as she tilted her head to the side.

"Ah, y-yes, yes. Everything's fine, Roll." Medi cleared her throat. "I will have to make a report on my scanning, and then we'll talk again, okay?" she smiled, her worry clear in her expression.

"Okay." Roll got off the stretcher and it vanished in Data cubes. "Um, are you okay? Your face looks weird." She asked, with an apologetic tone of voice.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine." The medic Navi smiled warmly towards Roll. "You can go now. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes.~" Roll turned around and rushed over to Rockman. "Ne, ne, Rokku-chan! Can we go get some ice cream?" she asked sweetly.

"Sure, let's go." Rockman walked her to the nearest exit.

For a moment Medi could only watch in silence as her best friend made childish giggles and childish expressions, and childish steps next to the blue bomber. She had to warp her arms around herself, thinking she might have some sort of a breakdown herself, which couldn't happen. She had to remain strong and clear minded. Still, she couldn't help but make a slightly heavier breath. As she looked down to collect herself, she felt something come up to her. No, it was _someone_. Oh, how glad she was when she realized that he hadn't left the room. Blues remained against the wall all the time, and since he didn't speak up that much, one would hardly notice his presence. Medi always knew he was there, but as she panicked, she forgot that he was there. She felt ashamed with herself for letting her guard down like this. She did not like having her panic strokes, but she was glad that he was there to hold her ground.

"I-I'm sorry, i-it was just another panic stroke." She explained herself to him stuttering.

".. Is it that bad?" he calmly asked, and both knew exactly what it was about. He brought his left hand up to the right side of her neck and held it. His hand was large, and held up almost all her neck. He slipped this thumb upwards, and stroked her cheek with it. He did the same with this other hand and tilted her head upwards, so that she would be looking towards him.

"Yes." She said as they locked eyes. She liked it when he held her like that. It was warm and made her feel safe. When she knew it, she was leaning her breath against the crook of his neck and she was on the verge of crying. "I knew it was severe, but I never realized it would be like this."

"It's alright. You're just tired. You should sleep for a while." He moved his hands from her cheeks and wrapped his arms securely around her shoulders.

"W-Will you stay with me?" she asked as a small pink blush appeared over her cheeks. "J-Just in case I get another stroke." She added, not wanting to sound bad.

"Of course I will. You don't have to ask me that." Blues leaned his head down and kissed her forehead. "I don't mind, and if you have another stroke, I will be there to hold you. Always." He said in his deep voice, making Medi's blush turn into a deeper shade of pink.

She could not tell how long they were like that. She could not tell if it were minutes, hours, years, decades. She kept her head leaned against him and breathing to the crook of his neck, with her arms bent and her hands planted on his chest. His presence was the only thing that was keeping her from breaking. He held the small of her back with one arm and he gently stroked her back with his free hand. His breathing was calm, long, and it helped her ease her panic wave. When she was calm enough to stand by herself, Blues made a move to let her go, to give Medi some personal space, but she was quicker and rapidly wrapped her thin arms around his torso. Her grip wasn't hard, but enough to make him realize that she didn't want him to stay away from her.

".. Are you still not feeling well?" the crimson Navi asked softly, moving both his arms and held both her small shoulders.

"No." her voice had a slight hoarse tone. Very subtle, but still, he caught it. "I am far from well right now." She spoke.

Medi looked up towards Blues and it only took him a moment to realize it. She needed something. Something that only he could give her. They were alone, but at any moment Jasmine or Enzan could call either of them into their respective PETs. He noticed that Medi didn't seem to want to leave him. He did not want to leave her side either, but there was also his duty to attend to. He clearly preferred to spend time with Medi, but both were aware of the heaviness of his responsibilities.

".. Don't you think this isn't-" he tried to ask if she thought it was an appropriate time for that.

"Please." What met him was a husky whisper.

".. Alright." He nodded his head after a moment.

If she asked him to, he would put everything aside and be with her. If she asked him to, he would give up everything and run away with her. Since both always had clear consciences, they also attended to their duties. Hers with healing Navis and his with peace defending, but right now, she needed something else much bigger than any duty. She needed company. His company and no one else's. Blues understood that and so, he moved his left hand upwards again and held her right cheek. His hold was tender and soft, which was exactly what she wanted. At his touch, Medi's reaction was to tilt her head towards his hand. As she let a relieved sigh out of her lips, Blues leaned down and tipped her face upwards. As their gazes locked again, she gave him a small warm smile before she closed her eyes. There was no need for words, as the actions were more worth that such. Blues took a gaze at her slumber before he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers. The female Navi's lips were dry, because she had been hyperventilating before, which made him worry but he didn't have time to actually feel the said emotion, because Medi was already wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her. In the split of a second, Blues had Medi up against the closest wall and kissing her again. As she kissed him back, he felt the need in her, which made him hold onto her more and kiss her in a deeper way.

**0000000**

"Dark-sama." A lowly figure kneeled before the great staircase and the throne above it. As soon as the upper figure looked down at him, he bowed his head low.

The dark figure sitting on the throne gazed down upon the figure, his expression not changing from its harsh tone.

"Did you finish what I asked you?" he asked.

"Yes, my Lord." The figure kept his head down. "The collecting was finished just moments ago. You shall be able to strike within two days time." He explained.

".. Good." He said; a small tone of please in his voice. "Have Blitz train them during that time. Has Sol returned yet?"

"No, sir. But he said in his report that he will be here tomorrow morning."

"They must all be here for the attack." The dark figure commented, resting his left elbow on the throne's arm and leaning his head against his closed fist. He dismissed the lowly Navi and when he was sure that he was alone again, he murmured to himself. "I'm tired of having to wait for so long. My revenge cannot be postponed any longer." He looked at his right glove. What once was a deep purple was now pale, fading, light purple. He frowned to himself, knowing he should start his invasion soon, but without the proper means, he was sure to lose, and losing was something he could not accept. He leaned back against the throne and rested both his hands on the large chair's arms. He felt like drifting, but sleep was something he could not afford to take. Even the closest, most loyal servants, could strike at him if he were asleep. No, he would sleep after his revenge. Only then, he would be able to be at peace with himself. He was sure where his anger came from, but he feared that his time was running short. Wait, fear? No, no, there was no such thing as fear in this Navi's vocabulary. He shook that weakening thought aside and just waited. Wait for the two days to pass.


	15. Chapter 14: Someone to Talk to

**A/N: I don't really know if I should write scenes with mature contents. I rated the fanfiction T because of possible language cursing and blood. Medi and Blues got intimate the chapter before, but it was not shown, as a hint appeared instead. If you want me to write more mature stuff, let me know, okay? Also, this chapter was cut in two, since I thought it was too large to put here. The other half is being written at the moment, so just wait for it, alright?**

**0000000**

**Chapter 14 – Someone to Talk to**

**0000000**

Roll woke up in to a strange sound coming from her throat. Upon better check, she realized she was screaming. Oh, there were also tears running down her cheeks. But, why? She tried to remember what her dream was, but she could not recall. She tried harder, but only a few fragments appeared over her mind. There was white, also red, but she could not place the colors to any objects. Just blurry puddles of white and red. Roll looked around her HP, and no longer than two seconds she noticed Meiru waking up. Again. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It marked 3 AM. Roll knew that Meiru had classes the next day, and that the net op needed her sleep, but Roll could not help it. Her nightmares were getting worse, and she tried not to wake up screaming, but it was helpless.

".. Roll? Is everything alright?" Meiru asked as she rubbed her eyes gently and checked the clock beside her nightstand. Upon realizing what time it was, she gave a sigh and grabbed her PET. "Did you have another nightmare?" she asked, her voice clear with sleepiness.

"I-I'm sorry." Roll looked down apologetically. "I know that you have to sleep and that you have classes tomorrow, but I just.." she cut herself. But she what? She kept having strange nightmares? She kept waking up in the middle of the night randomly? Both that adult and that medic Navi had said that nothing was wrong with her, but then again, why was she having these nightmares? It didn't feel scary, but Roll still categorized them as nightmares.

"It's fine. Just go back to sleep again." Meiru placed the PET back in its battery charger and laid her head back against her pillow. "I'm sure they'll go away soon." She calmly closed her eyes, a sign of how tired she was. No longer than five seconds, she was back to sleep.

Roll, in her HP, looked around again. She spotted something over a corner. She got herself up and looked at a porcelain white wing standing on a shelf. She hadn't noticed it before, and it brought up a thought to her, but it was blurry, though. It had shades of blue and a little yellow and black. She could not place it, but it looked like a Navi. The question of who it was lingered in her mind for the rest of the night. She had been getting these strange thoughts lately, and she could not tell if they were reality or fiction. As she also tried to figure out who the Navi from her dreams was, Roll found herself dozing off often. She curled into a ball and held her pink pillow tightly and hoped she would have no more nightmares.

**0000000**

"Okay, students, now open up your books on page-" Ms. Mari began, as the loud school bell rang for the third time. "I'm glad you got here on time at least once, Netto." The teacher made one of her smiles.

"Yup, I'm right here, Ms. Mari." Netto said, proud of himself.

"Okay, then, Netto, you can start reading the poem on page 45." As the teacher was about to settle down on her chair to listen the boy read, a stomping sound was heard. As it got louder, all the students looked at the closed door. No longer than two seconds, Meiru came bashing in. She looked tired, and some stray hair was out of place on top of her head, clearly because she had been running. Her cheeks were red from fatigue and she was panting to catch her breath.

"M-Meiru? You're late?" Ms. Mari almost dropped her book. She hadn't even noticed that the girl was absent, because the call for the students was not yet done.

"I-I'm really sorry I'm late. I'm afraid I slept in." Meiru bowed her head, still panting as she fumbled with her backpack and sat down on her small desk.

"O-Okay. Netto, start reading, please." The teacher looked at her book before surveying the students staring at the late incoming. "Now, now, students. Settle down." She said, noticing them shifting their eyes to their books and Netto cleared his throat before he began reading.

"'Today I saw a butterfly, as it floated in the air; its wings were spread in splendor, unaware that I was there. It was such a thing of beauty, it was a sight to see, it was the perfect masterpiece, full of grace and majesty. I found myself thinking, to what can this compare? And then, of course, I thought of you, and I wished that you were there...'" he read, his eyes carefully reading the words written on his book.

Meiru tried to keep up with the reading, she really did, but her eyes were much too tired to allow her to keep up. And her running all the way to school didn't help her tiredness at all either. Roll didn't have any more nightmares that night, but she couldn't fall asleep herself until late hours. She rolled over and over, and tried to count lambs, cute little pink hearts, whatever would make her get to sleep, but she couldn't. She knew why. Meiru knew the reasons of her insomnia. She was much too worried about Roll to be able to sleep properly. She sighed and took a peek at her PET back in her holster. Her expression turned into a sad tone as she looked at her pink device. When was Roll going to remember? When was she going to be safe from a system breakdown? Meiru could not tell, but she knew that she had to keep her going to those exams. At the least hint of problem with her main systems, Roll would have to be kept in Sci Labs until she was 100% free of danger. Oh, that reminded her. She had to take Roll to Sci Labs for the daily check-up after school. Meiru ended up sighing again and look at her book. She really couldn't keep up, so she did the same as Netto used to and held her book vertically against the desk and leaned her right cheek against her small desk, hiding behind the opened book. It was slightly cold, but it didn't matter. She only needed to get some sleep. Only a second, though. She would only sleep for a moment. And before she knew it, hours went flying.

**0000000**

"I wonder if Meiru-chan will be alright..." Roll said to herself as she watched her net op from an opened net window.

She was back to Sci Labs for the daily check-up and Medi would be there soon as well. Meiru hadn't been caught sleeping during class before, but only because the teacher would never think she would do such a thing, so she did not bother looking. The trip to Sci Labs had lasted twice the time, because Meiru had to constantly stop to take a break. The redhead was currently sitting on one of the waiting rooms and she was just looking forward. She had brought her pink bag along with her, which Roll knew contained a book, but Meiru looked like a statue. She had to be tired. Roll was aware that she couldn't keep waking Meiru up every night. The pink Navi looked down and fidgeted with her fingertips, as a little kid caught on the cookie jar. She wanted to do something to help Meiru, but she didn't know what she was supposed to do. From afar, two voices could be heard. As their tones were getting louder, it appeared that they were approaching her.

"Had a good night, Blues?" Rockman asked with a slight tease tone.

".. Why do you say such a thing?" Blues asked back, his voice calm and unchanging.

"You're smiling. That's why. You never smile. Not unless you're with Medi, of course." Rockman replied, looking forward. When he noticed Roll all by herself, he took a small jog towards her. "Roll-Chan. Are you here to do more exams?" his voice didn't crack, for once. He was surprised with himself, but he noticed something was wrong. "What is it? You look worried. Did something happen?" he asked, stepping closer to the pink Navi.

"Rokku-chan. Ah, Meiru-chan is.." she began. "She hasn't been sleeping enough these days because I keep having nightmares." She still looked down.

"Nightmares? You've been having nightmares?" Rockman asked.

"Yeah." Roll nodded. "Meiru-chan is just sitting there, and she's not even reading her book, like she always does." Roll explained.

All three Navis looked at the opened Net Window. The redhead looked lifeless and her eyes were partially closed, as if she would fall asleep at any moment. She did look sleepy, but for some reason, she did not lean back against the chair to close her eyes. Upon seeing this, Roll clutched her small closed fists against her Navi Symbol. She was worried about her net op, but she didn't know how to help her.

**0000000**

After the exams, Meiru took about fifteen minutes to get to the room where Roll was. Netto's father seemed to tell her something about Roll's condition, but she did not pay attention. She was much too tired to listen, and the only thing she could think about was getting home and taking a nice long nap under her warm covers. Ah, that seemed like a great idea. Last thing she knew was that she nodded her head automatically and walked towards the Sci Labs' front doors. She placed her PET back in its holster and walked. Just walked. Home sounded like a very good idea. She felt her eyes begin to shut, but she tried her best to remain awake. It would be weird to walk around with your eyes closed, and considering that you wouldn't see anything, it didn't sound appealing at all. As she walked, someone seemed to cross paths with her, but she did not notice who it was. She saw red, and some shades of green, it seemed. She tried to look up to see who it was, but her head got heavy all of a sudden and she felt herself fade. That nap seemed like the best idea ever right now. Yes, she would sleep now, for just a moment...

When Meiru opened her eyes again, she looked towards a familiar ceiling. It was a faded tone of pink, but still very warm and cozy. Meiru remembered when it was a lighter shade. She remembered spending a lot of time just staring at it after her piano classes, and feeling calm with it. As time and aging passed by, the ceiling became paler, but she still thought it was appealing and welcoming. She still started at it sometimes when she wanted to calm herself. As she sat up, she felt her head throb and she picked her hand to hold it, when she heard something shift over her left side.

"Ah, you finally came to your senses, Sakurai." A voice said from behind her.

"What.. What are you doing here?" Meiru asked, looking around. She was home. Her home. Why was here there too? "H-How long have I slept for? How did I get up here?"

"I didn't mean to impose, but I wasn't sure if I could leave you all by yourself when you passed out in front of Sci Labs. Hikari-hakase looked at you and said that you had an exhaustion stroke." Enzan replied, bringing a cup of tea to her.

"An exhaustion stroke?" Meiru repeated as she held her forehead and looked down. She noticed she had been covered with a light pink blanket as she held the tea handed to her.

"Yes. And you have slept for about three hours. I brought you here."

"Three?" Meiru stared at her clock and placed her tea over the coffee table on her side. "Oh, no, I'm going to miss my piano class if I don't leave right away!"

As soon as the redhead got up, her knees wobbled and she stumbled for some balance. But she didn't make it to the ground, because someone moved faster and held her in place. As she looked at Enzan, he seemed taller than her by a couple inches as he held her. Then again, she had her back slightly arched, so it must be that. Strangely enough, she seemed to get lost in his eyes. The blue in them looked like you could drown in them. Not literally, of course, but Meiru seemed drawn to the color. Maybe because he was the only person with eyes like that. All her other friends have brown eyes, which makes the color too common. She was bored sometimes with her own color when she looked at herself in the mirror in the morning.

"I don't think you should go to that class of yours." Enzan spoke as he held her in place for a moment.

It seemed that he brought her back from her thoughts, because she began blinking and looking around. When he noticed that she was able to stand by herself, he let her go.

"Ah... Um..." Meiru tried to figure out what to say, but she failed.

"I think you should eat something and then sleep until tomorrow at least." Enzan commented, taking a step backwards.

"A-Alright..." she did the only thing she could at the moment, nod. "Would you like to eat something, Enzan?" she asked politely. He brought her home, so she should repay him somehow. A meal is always a nice payment.

"Thank you, but that is not necessary." He replied just as politely. "I am quite fine with the tea." He held his red cup upwards, so that she could see.

"Oh, alright." Meiru nodded her head again and walked towards the kitchen. She mumbled something about making a toast to eat with her tea, but it was barely audible.

Enzan watched her just to make sure that she wouldn't fall again, but when he got a glance of her expression -when she thought he wasn't looking-, his own eyes widened slightly in awe. There was a mix of emotion in them, but he was able to tell which were which. There was worry for the most part, trouble, probably because of him, and sadness, which seemed to be mixed with a deepened state of loneliness. She was lonely. She needed company. He could not tell if she wanted the latter, but for the moment he would stay there, just to make sure she was safe. Why? Because she was a lady in distress, and his gentleman side told him to never leave a girl on her own in the state that Meiru was currently in. There was something else as well, but he couldn't really tell what it was. Either way, he wouldn't allow himself to start thinking of such jolly things when the redhead was in such a fragile moment. Just a few moments after she turned her back on him, he heard something coming from the girl. Upon better check, he noticed that it was a sob. And it was followed by another one, and another. It didn't need a genius to tell that she was crying.

"Are you alright, Sakurai?" he asked from the door. He wanted to give her privacy, in case she wanted it. He was expecting her to try to cover her feelings and sobs and turn towards him smiling and say everything was fine, but surprisingly, she didn't.

"No... No, I'm not alright." She looked down at the white tile ground. Her eyes were already dropping tear flakes big enough to blind her sight, leaving her common brown color dull and sad. "I'm not alright..." she repeated to the air, still looking down.

"What is it? Can I help?" he walked towards her more out of instinct than worry.

Before he knew it, Meiru had turned around, ran up to him and grabbed at his red vest. It didn't take her more than a second to start wailing to his chest like the world would be ending in the next hour. She could not understand why she was doing this, because she was always able to keep herself collected in front of everyone. Why she was breaking now, all of a sudden, she did not know. She just knew that she couldn't handle bottling up so much inside for so long.

"I want calmness; I want to run away; I want to crawl into a hole and stay there for the rest of my life. I want the real Roll to come back; I want to be able to sleep a whole night without waking up at least three times. I want... I want..." she sobbed into his chest as she remained clutching at his vest. "I need someone to talk to, but everyone else is..." she hiccupped and stopped talking, only sobbed. Maybe it was too much, but then again, he wasn't pushing her away. He probably pitied her, but she didn't mind. She needed someone next to her at the moment, and he was there.

"I am here, am I not?" he pushed his left hand upwards to pat the top of her head. So she did want company. "If you tell me to leave, I will, but I wouldn't like to leave you like this. You don't look well, Sakurai." He commented, while trying to keep his composure.

Meiru did not budge, did not say anything, thinking that if she spoke, he would leave, and she really needed a safe haven right now. So she remained clutching to his vest, trying to keep herself from falling. She didn't want to look weak by breaking down to the floor, even though she was close to that.


	16. Chapter 14,5: Hold on to Me

**A/N: This is the second part of the chapter 14. I think it was too large, so I cut it in two chapters. Please read and review, people. I want to know what you're thinking of my story, and I got so little reviews on chapter 13. My biggest thanks for those who have posted something on the previous half of the chapter. Thank you so very much. It means a lot to me to read all the reviews to get some inspiration, because it helps me to get through my writer's block. So, keep reviewing, people! ^^ I'd like to reach 100 reviews before the end of the fanfiction, so help me out, okay?**

**Note:**** I hope this pairing doesn't sound too forceful. Please let me know if it is.**

**Edit:**** I have re-uploaded this chapter due to minor grammar errors. Nothing much, just wanted to let you know.**

**0000000**

**Chapter 14.5 – Hold on to Me...**

**0000000**

Enzan could only watch Meiru as she sobbed. He did not move an inch. To her, any sign of movement from his part would only mean that he wanted to leave. And he couldn't dare to try that out. She was much too fragile to be left alone like this. He couldn't understand this current state of her. Supposedly she was always with those friends of hers, so she would be able to speak with them about her personal problems. Yes, that seemed to be the most correct logic. Then again, she probably didn't want them to worry about her. He failed to understand this person, from all people. He understood most people around him, but this frail little girl he couldn't. It annoyed him somehow. He didn't know why, but it just annoyed him. He sometimes watched her at Sci Labs, but she never showed any sign of breaking down.

Meiru remained like that for a moment. It didn't look like he was going to push her away, but she found she didn't want him to. This closeness was strange to her, but she liked it. It was calming and soothing her down. She recalled when her mother used to do that to her when she was a child. These days, she was so busy with work, along with her father, that Meiru barely saw them at home, so, she couldn't ask them for any kind of comfort. Also, she knew that they arrived at a late hour and left at an early one, so they would always be very tired. She knew better than to bother her parents when she shouldn't do so.

"I..." Meiru began, cutting through the silence leading them. She noticed his hold shift slightly, as if Enzan was adjusting his hands on her shoulders. It didn't bother her. "I-I'm sorry I broke down on you like this, Enzan." She spoke, her voice still cracking on the edges. "You must think I'm crazy, to start crying like this." She tried to laugh, but it came out as a forced crackle.

"It's fine, Sakurai." Enzan replied. "I don't think of you that way."

His voice was calm, secure, and his hold on her shoulders remained the same. In her mind, it was as if he was expecting her to breakdown again. It was strange for her, but she thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. At least someone would look at her, would tend to her. If something like that were to happen, then maybe she would get some attention, and attention usually comes with company. Company was the one thing she needed the most at the time. That seemed like a wonderful idea, but then, she realized the selfishness act she was trying to achieve, and Meiru looked down again. She didn't notice, but her cheeks flared a deep pink tone.

"A-Ah..." the redhead felt a tug at her chest. An unfamiliar one. Maybe all that crying and lack of sleep didn't do her good, and her body was feeling it now.

"Sakurai?" it was as if he knew what was going on with her. "Are you still not well? Perhaps you should rest for some more hours." He looked at the kitchen door, which leaded to the living room, where he had laid her sleeping form.

"N-No, no, I'm fine." she looked back up at him. "I'm just..."

When she looked up, she froze. His expression was different. He noticed she was blushing, but she didn't, which was what changed his expression. It held confusion and a little trouble, also a lot of curiosity. He noticed the girl's cheeks, something she apparently didn't, and he could not comprehend it. Why was she blushing? Was it because of him? Had he done something inappropriate? Well, getting someone home while they were sleeping in your arms isn't exactly proper, but he didn't have a choice, really. Also, he read that when someone blushed, it meant something good, but the only thing Enzan did was hold her shoulders to keep her from falling to the ground. He hadn't had any second intentions with his actions. His gentleman side seemed to get the best of him most of the times, and this time as well, because he was still holding her shoulders. He wasn't sure if he was doing it out of worry for her balance, or because he actually wanted to hold her in his arms. The thought appeared in his mind quite a while ago. It was once when he had came to deliver some reports on some missions and the redhead had been there with Netto. Apparently, something had gone well because she gave the loud one a glomp. The thought that crossed his mind at that time was that he'd like those arms around him. Only him. He didn't know why he thought of such a selfish thing, maybe because he never had a girlfriend in his 17 years of life. Since he was always so busy with dealing with his company and missions, he never really got to think of love. Ah, there was that Anetta girl, but she didn't count because they never got any kind of relationship. Considering that she only wanted revenge on him because of her Navi Silk, she definitely didn't count.

"Sakurai?" he called her out again, urging her to finish was she was saying and to close up his thoughts. He was being selfish, which was a side of him he did not enjoy, so he tried to shut it out.

"U-Um, I-I just..." she blinked several times, as if to wake herself up. Her blush became a light red color. She looked like she was distracted as well, like he was. "I guess I just... I needed something to hold on to..." She looked to the side, as if she was afraid of what his answer would be.

"... I see." He said, his voice calm. "Why don't you ask Hikari or any other of your group?" he asked.

"Ah, no, no, I-I couldn't, b-because Netto is always busy and everyone else is..." Meiru struggled to find the proper words, but they both knew that she was failing at the task. "Everyone else is..."

Ah, that was the wrong thing to say. Enzan noticed as soon as he mentioned Netto's name. It seemed like she got upset whenever someone spoke the loud one's name. He knew he had to fix it now, but how? What was he supposed to say to her to make her feel better? Several ideas brushed passed his mind, but he reproved every single one of them. Upon gazing down at the troubled girl looking towards everywhere but him, he thought he wanted her to look at him. And only him. Again, he brushed that thought away from his mind as he looked at her. She looked fragile, like a porcelain doll, and he wondered if she would break if she actually fell to the ground. Of course, he wouldn't allow such a thing, but still... he wasn't aware of the following words he said until they were gone from his lips.

"I guess... If you need something to hold on to, then.. Hold on to me." He spoke quietly, surprising himself and her. He wasn't even expecting those words to exit his mouth.

When he saw the inner struggle she was having with herself, he frowned slightly to himself. Would she accept his offer? Would she kick him out? Would she even believe him? He didn't even know what he just said, but he simply did. That selfish side of him was getting bigger than his gentleman side. This wasn't good, and he knew that he should leave as soon as possible from her house. He'd been watching her from afar for a while, but he never dared to say anything to her, fearing what her answer might be. Well, anyone would tend to freak out if you came to them and told them you had whatever feelings for them. As he fumbled to get his thoughts closed up, she spoke again.

"... N-No, I couldn't do that to you. You're just as busy as Netto is." Meiru said, feeling his shifting hand again.

Meiru looked down, towards the right this time. Her mind was about to explode as it was. She had mixed feelings about almost everything, and keeping it all bottled up inside wasn't doing her any good. And Enzan was most likely busy with his own stuff. She was aware that he was the Vice-President of the Ijuin Company, so he should be in his office doing his work and not here trying to comfort her. But as she was going to tell him to leave her and proceed with his own work, he surprised her. He moved his left hand down her jaw line and held her delicate chin. With a slick move, he pulled her face towards him. She noticed something on his face this time. Something she was unfamiliar with. It was a strange burning feeling. One that she could not place. What was he thinking at that moment? She could not tell, but she did want to know. There were a million things rushing past her mind at the moment, but before she could think of any answers herself, he spoke again.

"If someone I know needs my help, I will stop at nothing to help them." he said with a deep low, determined tone of voice as he gazed down at her.

He looked like a tower this close to her, and as he looked directly into her brown eyes, she felt like she would melt just by looking at his deep-blue-ocean eyes. Now that really got her blushing and both were aware of that. She thought it was nice, having someone like this, so close to her. She found she liked it. What surprised Meiru the most was that she felt like she wanted more of this closeness. She didn't know if it was because she was feeling lonely and needed company, because she never thought she would feel like this towards Enzan, if it was a feeling at all, created from the lack of company she was enduring for so long. Since she was always with Netto, her feelings were turned towards the loud one, but these blue eyes were just too appealing to her. Meiru couldn't bring herself to look away from his gentle gaze, even though something from her brain was making her eyes want to close slowly.

"Enzan..." she called out unaware of herself.

The dual-haired boy gasped slightly. He wasn't expecting this at all, but he couldn't avoid it either. It took him a second to realize that she had him pinned against the counter behind him. It didn't bother him, because he was at least two times stronger than her, but what froze him was the proximity. The redhead's hands moved on his vest closer to his sternum and remained there. Even with his black t-shirt, he could feel her warm hands. Inside his mind, Enzan struggled to keep his selfish side caged, but he was failing. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to pull her closer to him. In his mind, he wanted to do things to her that even he wasn't aware of, but his gentleman side kept telling him to stop and leave, that she was fine now. It was as if a chain was broken, because the last thing Enzan was aware of was Sakurai's eyes closed up and her face tilted upwards, and, oh the closeness was alluring. He wanted it. He wanted it all. He tilted his own head downwards, directed to hers, and moved his right hand to the small of her back, while his left hand remained holding her back firmly, yet gently. He arched his back towards her and felt her adjusting her palms on his chest. Ah, that felt great. It was making his heart race inside. After a moment, he felt her breathing tickling his chin, which made his spine shiver. He dared to pull her closer with his hold on the small of her back. It pleased him to notice that she did nothing against the action. He tilted his face downwards a little more. Just one inch left and then he would be able to feel those small pink lips of hers. He wasn't sure where all this was coming from, but he realized he didn't care. Yes, just one more inch and-

_**BEEP BEEP BEEP**_

Just as their lips were about to touch, the pink PET that belonged to Meiru began ringing. Meiru automatically looked towards it, giving Enzan only a slight brush in the lips. Even though her mind was too clouded to process the touch, his wasn't. It took her about five seconds to realize that it was her PET that was ringing and while she was just blankly staring at it, she didn't notice Enzan's face just one inch over her neck. With a slick elegant move, she got away from his hold and moved to her PET.

Enzan felt extremely selfish at that time. He wanted more. He wanted to break that PET into a million pieces and then burn the remains of what would be left. Either that or throw it as far away as possible. As he looked at her, his hair was covering most of his eyes, which was a good thing, because his expression was probably something not nice to be seen. He felt his gentleman side dead and his selfish one rocking away. This was not good. He had to leave or else he didn't know what might happen. It took him about all his strength to step away from the counter and turn towards the kitchen door.

"Enzan?" Meiru called for him in a curious tone of voice as she noticed him at the door, his back turned to her.

"I should leave. You seem to be feeling better, Sakurai, so I'll leave you to your business. Take care." He spoke hastily, then moving towards the front door.

Meiru didn't have time to say anything because he was gone as quickly as he had spoken his words.

**0000000**

Back in the Ijuin Residence, Enzan sank down in one of the many sofas of his house and leant his head against the soft dark furniture. He took a long breath, then another, and another. He wasn't sure if he rested in that sofa for a minute or one hour, but it didn't matter to him. He had to get himself to calm down, or else he might do something crazy. He just looked at the flat white ceiling and almost hated it. He had liked the faded pink tone of Sakurai's house. It was warm and welcoming, like she was, and Enzan almost got himself up to go see her again. Maybe he could make up some excuse and say he was there to make sure she was alright. No, no, no. That wasn't right. He shouldn't be in her house in the first place. It was a wrong thing to do. But, he couldn't leave her lying on the Sci Labs floor like that, he had to do something. That -almost- kiss was what was troubling him the most. He wanted to finish what he'd started. Enzan never allowed himself to leave any type of business unfinished, but this... this was different. He didn't know what to do in this situation. Unknown to his own actions, the dual-haired boy brought up his right hand's fingertips to his lips. He could almost sense the girl's perfume, but she had left his grasp too soon for him to find out that detail. He was so caught up in his thoughts, that he didn't notice his Navi returning to his PET. As he looked at his Net Op acting strange, he spoke up.

"Enzan-sama, are you not feeling well? Should I call someone to assist you?" Blues asked from the PET. His hair, even though almost unnoticeable, was a little messy and some shades of his white hair were out of place. Clearly he'd been with Medi up until just now.

"Blues, tell me something..." but Enzan did notice that detail as he grabbed his PET from its holster.

"Anything." The Navi nodded his head.

"What is love to you?" he asked boldly.

"... Love?" Blues tilted his head slightly to the side, as if wondering why his Net Op would want to know such a thing.

"Yes. Love." Enzan stated boldly. "What is it to you?" he asked again, putting the PET besides him on the sofa and looking back to the white ceiling again.

"Hm..." it took the crimson Navi a moment to reply, "To be with the one you care for the most through the good and the bad times; to not let your gaze waver from that someone; to feel happy just by talking to them; to feel a tight grip in your chest when that someone is in pain or sad." Blues moved his left hand to hold at his chest. "To feel like you would die if you were to be apart from that person for a long time and, to feel lonely just by staying away from them. I believe that it is what love is to me, Enzan-sama." Blues said in his deep voice.

"... I see." Enzan sighed lowly.

"By the way, Enzan-sama." Blues looked to the side and brought up a Net-Window that contained an envelope-like rectangle. "You have received an e-mail from Ayanokouji Yaito, with the subject being _Party to Cheer up Meiru-chan! You must not miss it!__" _

"Oh?" Enzan grabbed his PET again and looked at the invitation. "Well, this should be interesting."


	17. Chapter 15: Cheer You Up

**A/N: Before the chapter, I have to say something. It seems I have made some of my readers upset when I posted the Prologue and first chapters with an updated grammar. In all honesty, because I'm taking so long to submit this, I thought that nobody was following the story anymore, so I thought it was okay to do it. Now I see that I was very wrong, so I offer you my deepest and sincerest apologies, Readers.**_** (Bows several times)**_** I will make sure to not do it again. I really do understand what you feel because I've been waiting for ages for some fanfics to be resumed and continued, and they are stopped, like mine is. Again, my apologies. I am happy to see that there are so many people who are still enjoying what I write, so, for everyone who was waiting for so long; this chapter is dedicated to you.**

**On another note: ****Writer's block is killing me.**** I want to write, I really do, but I'm afraid I'll write crap if I force it out like that. Thank you so much for 60 reviews, 50 favorites and 32 followers! You have no idea how much it means to me. ^^ To wrap this up, someone made a lovely fanart of this story! I was so happy after I read the person's note on my DeviantArt. I have the link to the image on my profile, so check it out.**

**Now, please do enjoy, and again, sorry for the huge delay. I'll try to get rid of this writer's block sometime soon.**

**0000000**

**Chapter 15 – Cheer You Up**

**0000000**

Meiru just gazed idly at the closed front door while holding her PET. What had just happened? She was trying to hold herself from crying in front of Enzan but had ended up doing it anyway and even clung up to him like there was no tomorrow, but then... they had been so close. It was weird and she hadn't realized their closeness up until just now. Maybe that was why Enzan left in such a rush? Maybe she did wrong by leaning on to him like that. Yes, that had to be why he left the way he did, no doubt about it. She had annoyed him with her crying to the point that he decided to leave. And after he had gone through all the trouble of bring her home when he must have been busy with his company for sure. How stupid of her. She would make sure she wouldn't bother him again if she saw him in Sci Labs or any other place. Now that she thought of it, she felt really embarrassed. She had never been this close to someone, not even Netto. Even though she tried pushing the thought aside, a small side of her, a more selfish one, was telling her that it was alright, that he was there because he wanted to. But her rational side soon kicked in. Of course it wasn't like that; he was there only because he saw her collapsed on Sci Labs' floor. He would never look at her that way, she was nothing interesting to look at. Nothing... important to anyone. That and the two weren't that close as friends to start with. As Meiru browsed through these thoughts of her, she almost missed another voice trying to get her attention.

"Meiru-chan! Meiru-chan, you have mail!" Roll said, trying to bring her Net Op back from her deep reverie.

"Ah, Roll?" the redhead seemed surprised by the Navi's presence in the PET. "What... When did you get back?"

"Well, I just got here, but there's this mail here beeping and making all this noise. Didn't you hear it?" the pink Navi explained. Apparently, Netto's father had sent Roll back to Meiru via Internet.

"Ah, no, I… I didn't hear it, I was… a little distracted." Meiru gave her Navi a forced giggle. "Who's it from?" she asked with a small smile.

"Ah, let me see..." Roll poked the e-mail and it opened. "Subject: Masquerade Party. You must not Miss it! Sender: Yanokouji Yaito."

Before Roll or Meiru could say anything else, a call popped up. As a reflex, the Net Op took the call and that so very famous clear, shiny, forehead appeared head on. A short moment afterwards, the camera was lowered and Meiru gave a renewed small smile to her long time friend. It had been a while since she had talked with Yaito. These days, she was so busy taking Roll to Sci Labs that she forgot about other things.

"Oh, hello, Meiru-chan. I see you finally got my e-mail. The limousine should be there to pick you up to my humble palace at any moment." The rich blonde spoke with a clear amusement in her voice.

"Ah, but, Yaito-chan, I don't even know if I can go. A-And even if I could, I don't have any kind of costume for parties like that." Meiru tried to escape the invitation, since she wasn't really in the proper mood for any sort of event.

"Oh, don't you worry about any of that.~" Yaito waved at her. "I have all kinds of costumes here prepared for you to choose. Princess, thief, mermaid, desert dancer, whatever. You name it, I got it." the blonde spoke with her usual smile.

"I don't know, Yai-chan." Meiru used her friend's pet name to try to convince her out. "I mean, I got so much to do here at home. I need to clean up, and then I have my piano practice..."

"Oh, please come, Meiru." Yaito got her hands closer and crossed all of the fingers together as if begging. "I already sent all the invitations and if the main guest isn't here, then it's not going to be much of a party, now won't it?"

Meiru looked at her caller for a moment and sighed lowly. She really didn't want to go, her head was so clouded at the moment. And, why would Yaito send invitations if she didn't even know if she, Meiru, would be able to attend in the first place? She sighed again. That was maybe because she knew that the redhead couldn't say no to her friends. After a moment, she nodded softly and gave her friend a defeated smile.

"... Alright, fine, if you insist that much." Just as she agreed, she heard a car's honk at her door. "I guess it's here too."

"Wonderful!~ See you in ten!" the blonde hung up with a very pleased expression.

"See you..." Meiru said, not as cheerful as her friend. "What did I get myself into?" she asked herself with another sigh as she allowed her head to drop a little.

**0000000**

"I'm not very comfortable with this, Yaito-chan." Meiru commented, looking at herself. "I should have just stayed home. That way, I wouldn't-"

"Nonsense, you." the blonde cut her off with a wave of her hand. "You look pretty and you're having a great time. Aren't you?" a happy glare met the redhead's gentle eyes.

"... I suppose I am enjoying myself." she said, defeated.

Before the two girls was the Grand Hall. As everyone knows, Yaito's mansion is known to hold just about everything within it, and this hall happens to be one of the blonde's favorites. Because of the party, it was filled with lights and decorated with pink and white patches of flowers in red vases, in every corner. In the center is the dance floor, of course, shining and dazzling with its tiles. Right above it was placed a large chandelier, which only added more light to the place. On the sides of the dance floor were heavy set pillars, holding off the ceiling. There was a pink bow and laces connecting all pillars. Behind those there were placed a few tables with all sorts of food; snacks and drinks. Of course, due to Yaito's management, the only drinkable stuff was her favorite strawberry juice. She had said it didn't matter because everything was supposed to be pink, so it even matched the decorations. The drapes hanging from the tall windows on each side were a pale pink color, which reminded Meiru of her ceiling back at home. She found herself sighing again, and wishing for a quick return home. It's not that she wasn't enjoying herself, because she was, it was just that she was far too worried with other things at the moment to pay much attention to a fancy party like this one. As she almost lost herself in her reverie again, the redhead almost missed someone coming up to her and Yaito.

"Would you like to dance, oh beautiful butterfly?" a boy asked.

Meiru blinked several times as she watched the scene unfold before her. This boy was dressed as a Tuxedo Prince, and looking at herself, she thought her dress didn't quite match up as his. He was wearing a mask and a large cape that was red on the inside and black on the outside. Then again, everyone was wearing different masks, including her. She saw him reach his hand out and she just stared at it, along with Yaito. Ever since the beginning of the party, Meiru was feeling distracted and out of it, but she felt out of herself even more when she saw the Butterfly take the Masked Prince's hand. Soon enough, a music started playing and he led her into the dance floor. He gently grabbed at her waist while she held his shoulder. His right and her left hands were connected as they began to waltz gracefully. As much as she tried figuring out who this Prince was, she couldn't see it. Through the mask, she could only see two blue eyes. The expression they held was an intriguing one. They were very gentle, but also fierce. His hair was also something. It was mostly white, like snow, and the Butterfly thought it matched very well with his blue eyes.

"I've taken notice that you've been bored for a while, little Miss. Would you like to have a little fun afterwards?" the masked Prince asked, bringing the girl from her thoughts.

"Ah, um, s-sure, I guess." The Butterfly replied, nodding her head once. "Wh-What do you have in mind?"

"Well, then…" he said before he leaned into her ear and whispered something to her.

"Ah?" she gasped to herself.

"I'll see you there." He said pulling back as the music finished. "If you'd like to, of course."

The Butterfly could only gasp again as the Prince grabbed her hand and gave a light kiss on her knuckles. Before she could ask him anything else, he was gone. Never had she felt such an exhilarating feeling inside her chest. She found herself returning to her seat in a minute's time. As she sat, she began thinking his offer carefully. She couldn't tell who he was, but he seemed to know her. It couldn't be Netto, because he was clearly the one in the dog suit lashing out at the snack area with Ms. Mari trying to control him. All the noise he made makes it quite evident. So, who could this mystery Prince be? His voice felt so… familiar, but she couldn't put her finger to it. And his eyes. She was sure she had seen those eyes before. His offer seemed harmless enough, though, and it would be impolite to not go, wouldn't it? After a moment, she was able to make up her mind. Noticing a few people taking leave, she did the same and followed through a side door. She tried to not get lost in the corridors, as Yaito's mansion can be far too large for your tastes. After a few turns, she found the place. Upon looking around, the Butterfly saw that there wasn't anyone in the area. Like he had told her before. She looked to her left side and saw it. It was a balcony. The snow white drapes flowed with the occasional wind breezes. It looked really peaceful there. She took a few steps forwards, before being cut off.

"Hi there." A deep voice spoke from behind her.

The Butterfly twirled around and saw him. She almost didn't catch him in sight if it weren't for the moonlight shining on him, but he seemed to have a different glow from before. Again, that exciting feeling began filling up her chest. She was nervous, she knew it. She tried looking calm and collected, but she probably looked like a child chasing after a jar of cookies. She was hesitant, she was expecting, she was edgy. For a moment, she was everything and she was nothing. He seemed to notice her uneasiness as he approached her. The girl saw this and took a breather.

"You seem tense." He said, just one step away from her. "Could it be that you're expecting something from me?" he teased.

"N-No…" she blushed heavily. "N-Not really…"

"Oho, so you are." He teased again with a small smirk.

The Masked Prince took another step closer to the girl, which made the Butterfly take a step backwards. This went on for about three more steps, until she felt the balcony's rail against her lower back. He had her pined against the balcony. This made the Butterfly nervous, so she tried looking away, in a way that would hide her embarrassment. This didn't seem to please the Prince, as he moved his right hand to gently hold her chin. She blinked again as he leaned down, towards her. It was then that she could tell that he was a bit taller than she was. Wait, who was it that was tall like this; had blue eyes and white hair? She tried figuring it out, but he didn't let her. Catching her off-guard, the Prince leaned down a little more and connected his lips with hers. The Butterfly gasped to herself once again. What was he…? Was he really? She couldn't close her eyes, but she could tell that his were closed. Was he enjoying this? Strangely enough, she couldn't say she wasn't either. His lips were soft, a little hesitant at first, but tender. This made the feeling inside her chest catapult into something she couldn't understand. As she felt her own eyes beginning to shut closed, the Butterfly, unaware of herself, pulled her right arm upwards and placed it over his back, as if to make sure he was really there. To that, he moved and adjusted his body against hers. It felt… right. It didn't feel wrong in any way, even considering the fact that she still didn't know who this person was. The Butterfly kept telling herself to stop, but another side of hers told her 'No, don't, it's alright. This is right.' Seeing no move from her that said otherwise, the Prince continued. He moved his left hand to the small of her back and his right one to her bare back. Making featherlight touches in that bare area, it made the girl whimper, which pleased him even more. At some point, the Butterfly brought up her left hand up and held the back of his neck, as if to pull him closer to her. What she felt was strange, and she couldn't explain it, but it felt good. It felt genuinely good to be like that, with him.

"… Enzan…" she whispered softly in between their kisses.

Upon hearing that name, the Masked Prince stopped his caresses on her back and blinked, several times in fact. Did she just…? No, it wasn't possible. It just couldn't. He took a few steps back and looked at the Butterfly. She seemed to be in a daze of some sort. She had a small, warm smile on her face, but her eyes were closed. Her expression seemed peaceful, but had she just called out for…? He couldn't believe his ears, so he did what his instincts told him, run. He turned around and took off, leaving a Butterfly in a daydream haze without even as much as a goodbye.

**0000000**

Far away from this happy event, far from this momentous happiness, something else was taking place that nobody was aware of. Deep inside the Internet City, on an abandoned corner that people seemed to have forgotten, was a group of storage houses. In this particular one, if you looked inside once, you probably wouldn't be able to see anything out of the ordinary, but, if you dared going back inside twice, and go down the stairs in the upper right corner, you wouldn't be so fortunate as to return. Yes, for it is this place where a certain Navi decided to set his lair. He sat in his throne, while down some stairs were his 'minions', as he calls them, for he does not have other words for them. They are disposable, like everything in this world is, if they don't fulfill their purposes correctly.

"Are we ready? Are the phases complete yet?" the Leader spoke up, his voice filled with dark eagerness.

"Yes, Leader." a second voice spoke. "I have just finished the final check-up rounds and everything was in place and set."

"Good." the Leader said with his ill-intended smirk.

"The Phases are perfectly well trained and in place, all ready for action." a third voice, a female one, spoke with some sort of giggle in her voice. "I gave them a little boost this afternoon, too, so they'll be even more vicious."

"When can I slash something up?" a fourth voice spoke, with a little whine.

"Calm down. You'll get to do it soon." a final voice speaks. "We are also ready and waiting for commands. Every task is ready to fulfill its purpose."

"... Excellent. We can begin." the Leader spoke and waved off his right hand while his left one held his cheek and rested on his throne's left arm. After the 'minions' exited the area, the Leader stared off into a window. Outside, aside from a small moon, he could see nothing, he could hear nothing. No fresh breeze would come in, nor could his darkness leave that room. But that would change very soon. He chuckled to himself as he revised in his mind his own, personal, tasks to fulfill.

**End of Chapter 15**


End file.
